Several immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are available or in development for the treatment of many different cancers. The complexity of the treatment landscape suggests that healthcare professionals (HCPs) will need education to help them optimise the use of these agents in clinical practice. Our aim was to understand from HCPs which educational topics they believe are most important in this area.
We used a two-part modified Delphi process, in which HCPs from 10 different specialities in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and USA were invited from a pre-existing database to complete a web-based questionnaire. In part 1, HCPs were asked to state in their own words what they believed to be the most important educational topics of benefit to them or their colleagues to improve the safe and effective use of ICIs in patients with cancer. In part 2, a second group of HCPs was asked to assess the importance of each of the topics from a list based on the responses in part 1.
In part 1, 201 HCPs responded to the survey. The mean number of tumour types managed with ICIs by each participant was 4.2, with 33% managing at least 6 different tumour types. For oncologists only, the mean number of tumour types was 4.8, with 42% managing at least 6 different tumour types. On average, 45% of HCPs said that they would like to know more about the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors. This was highest for paediatric cancers (64%) and lowest for urological cancers (39%). The demographics of the 200 HCPs participating in part 2 were similar to part 1. The most frequently cited topic for education in part 1 was adverse event monitoring and management, with 87% of respondents stating this as an educational need. In part 2, 98% of respondents rated education on adverse event monitoring and management as moderately, very or extremely important. Other frequently suggested topics were indications/comparison of different ICIs (43%), the use of combination therapy (27%), and biomarkers (24%).
Our results give a clear indication of which topics are of most importance to HCPs for further education on the use of ICIs in cancer treatment. To our knowledge, this is the only survey to investigate educational needs in this area.
The authors.
Touch Independent Medical Education Ltd.
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.