Understanding Caregiver Concerns During NSCLC Treatment
Christopher Danes, PhD, discusses how patient and caregiver priorities and concerns vary during the course of treatment for non–small cell lung cancer.
An abstract presented at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting sought to uncover the differences in patient and caregiver priorities when undergoing treatment for ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Christopher Danes, PhD, scientific director, Global Medical Affairs Oncology at Takeda Oncology discusses how patients and caregivers weight the impact of various adverse effects (AEs) in an interview with Targeted OncologyTM.
When starting this project, researchers followed a comprehensive approach, including evaluating the existing literature, examining clinical trial data, and conducting an initial survey. The goal was to gain a clear understanding of the various factors at play. What they found most surprising, according to Danes, was that particularly for caregivers, lab abnormalities were a prominent concern.
Upon reflection, this made sense to Danes and researchers. The concern stems from the fact that if a patient experiences a lab abnormality, there is a strong possibility that their medication dosage will be reduced. This directly impacts the drug's potential efficacy, which is a major worry for both patients and those caring for them. This realization was a clarifying moment, providing insight into the underlying concerns of both patients and caregivers.
Another example was weight gain. For some available drugs, patients tend to gain weight. From a patient's perspective, this can be incredibly impactful. However, when looking at the data from caregivers, they often ranked weight gain as very low in terms of concern. Similarly, considering myalgia, caregivers generally ranked its impact as relatively low. Yet, for patients, it's a higher concern. This highlights a crucial difference: daily muscle soreness can significantly affect a patient's quality of life in ways that might not be immediately apparent to someone observing from the outside.
This is precisely why the study was conducted, according to Danes. While AE tables provide valuable information, they don't always capture the day-to-day impact of individual AEs on a patient's life. The goal was to better understand these experiences from the patient's perspective. This detailed understanding of patient and caregiver concerns empowers physicians to have more targeted and effective discussions, ultimately leading to better care
