P-102 Unmet needs of patients during colorectal cancer care and treatment – a qualitative study through an online patient community

Approximately 500,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) every year in Europe [1]. Approximately 15 to 30% of these patients are initially diagnosed at a metastatic stage (mCRC), and 20% to 50% of patients with initially localized disease will relapse and present metastasis [2]. The study objective is to better understand the unmet needs of mCRC patients’ during their care and treatment pathway, especially for patients with genetic alterations. This is a European qualitative study using Carenity, an online patient community. Patients self-reporting with a CRC in Carenity are invited to participate in a screening questionnaire to validate if they meet the inclusion criteria (adult patients living in France, Spain, Italy or Germany with mCRC knowing if they present or not genetic alterations). Patients meeting the inclusion criteria are invited to participate in a one-hour phone interview. Questions on sociodemographic profile, on their experience of the disease and the care pathway, on patient’s knowledge and awareness of the disease, and on their needs and expectations are asked during the interview. Screening questionnaires and interviews were launched on January 2, 2023, and are planned to last 2 months. All study materials have been validated by an ethics committee (Comité de Ética de la Investigación con medicamentos de Barcelona). To date, 29 patients have started the screening questionnaire, 13 patients have been included in the study (4 from France, 5 from Italy, 4 from Spain and none from Germany) and 10 interviews have been performed (4 in France, 5 in Italy and 1 in Spain). The objective is to reach 20 interviews (5 per country). Out of the 13 mCRC patients included, 10 are female and 3 are male. The median age is 58 years old. 6 mentioned having a KRAS-mutation, 3 a BRAF-mutation, 1 BRAF/KRAS-mutation and 3 without genetic alterations listed in the screening questionnaire. First results show an important impact of mCRC on patients’ quality of life and well-being. For instance, an Italian patient quoted “ I am concerned about lack of independence, autonomy, the fact that I have to depend on the others ”. Also, patients mentioned a need in terms of more information from healthcare professionals: “ The oncologist told me which treatments I was going to get. But, it’s by doing my research about the treatments that I understood why I had this treatment, combined to others, and not another treatment ”. This study is the first one to evaluate this specific patients’ population unmet needs through qualitative interviews. Especially, no insights have been published on the potential differences in the unmet needs between mCRC patients with and without genetic alterations.