1236P - Feasibility of online symptom monitoring to detect lung cancer relapse in Poland

Background

Electronic monitoring of patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) in lung cancer may allow earlier relapse detection, prolonged survival, and better utilization of healthcare resources. Wide implementation of ePRO is limited by patient digitalization level and Internet access. In 2021, more than 90% of people in Poland used Internet, and over 80% used it more than once a week. However, its use among people over 65 was below 50%. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of ePRO in lung cancer patients in Poland.

Methods

In 2021 an ePRO tool (HORUS®) for lung cancer relapse detection was developed at the Medical University of Gdańsk. It offers weekly online questionnaires for post-treatment surveillance of lung cancer patients. The survey includes 12 questions about the most common relapse symptoms and can be approached via a website or an app. In case of health deterioration, an automatic alert is generated and sent to health caregivers, based on a real-time data analysis. Primary study outcomes are the sensitivity and specificity of the ePRO in Polish conditions. This report presents the first-year study results.

Results

Between March 2022 and March 2023, 78 eligible patients were identified, 22 of whom (28%) declined participation, mainly due to no Internet access (45%). Fifty-six patients met the inclusion criteria and entered the study. The mean age was 70 years (range 42-84), 30 (54%) patients were women and 26 (46%) were men. The median number of expected weekly questionnaires per patient during the study period was 28 (range 3-52). The total number of received surveys was 1442, from 1666 expected (86.6%). Average compliance was similar between sexes (male 87%, female 86.2%). The median percentage of weekly adherence to symptom reporting was 87.5%, with the lowest values in patients’ weeks 1 and 41 (75.0%) and the highest (100%) in patients’ weeks 42, 46, 50, 51, and 52.

Conclusions

To our knowledge, HORUS® is the first and only ePRO system for lung cancer surveillance in Poland. Our early results confirm the feasibility of ePRO in Polish lung cancer patients. The weekly adherence to reporting was high and did not change significantly during the study period. However, low Internet access in the elderly lung cancer population remains the limiting factor.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

Ewa Pawlowska, MD.

Funding

“Incubator of Innovation 4.0”. The project is executed under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education programme as part of non-competitive procedure: “Support for managing scientific research and commercialisation of the R&D project work results in scientific units and enterprises”, included in the Operational Programme of Intelligent Development 2014-2020 (Action 4.4).

Disclosure

J. Jassem: Financial Interests, Advisory Board: BMS, MSD, Exact Sciences; Non-Financial Interests, Invited Speaker: Roche; Financial Interests, Invited Speaker: Pfizer, Novartis; Financial Interests, Other: Takeda. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.