(P 194) EFFECTIVENESS OF A RISK PREDICTION TOOL (PERSARC) ON THE QUALITY OF TREATMENT DECISIONS IN SOFT-TISSUE SARCOMA PATIENTS (VALUE-PERSARC TRIAL)

Objective: Current treatment decision-making in high-grade soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) care is not informed by individualised risks for different treatment options and patients’ preferences. Risk prediction tools may provide patients and professionals insight in personalised risks and benefits for different treatment options and thereby potentially increase patients’ knowledge and reduce decisional conflict. This VALUE-PERSARC study aims to assess the effectiveness of a personalised risk assessment tool (Personalised SARcoma Care or PERSARC) to increase patients’ knowledge about risks and benefits of treatment options and reduce decisional conflict in comparison to usual care in high-grade extremity STS-patients.

Methods: In this parallel cluster randomized controlled trial, 120 primarily diagnosed high-grade extremity STS patients will be included. Eligible patients (≥18 years) are those without a treatment plan and treated with curative intent. Patients with sarcoma subtypes or treatment options not mentioned in PERSARC are unable to participate. Hospitals will be randomised between usual care (control) or care with the use of PERSARC (intervention). In the intervention condition, PERSARC will be used by STS professionals in multidisciplinary tumour boards to guide treatment advice and in patient consultations, where the oncological/ orthopaedic surgeon informs the patient about his/her diagnosis and discusses benefits and harms of all relevant treatment options. The primary outcomes are patients’ knowledge about risks and benefits of treatment options and decisional conflict (Decisional Conflict Scale) 1 week after the treatment decision has been made. Secondary outcomes include attitudes concerning trade-offs between quality and length of life (QQ questionnaire), regret (Decision Regret Scale) and cancer worry (Cancer Worry Scale).

Results: TRIAL IS CURRENTLY IN PROGRES (INCLUSION COMPLETED JULY 2024)

Conclusion: If proven to be effective, PERSARC can fulfill the need of personalizing treatment for STS patients by stimulating deliberation between STS patients and professionals in treatment consultation. This may lead to more informed treatment decisions that are better in line with patients’ values and goals, thereby fostering satisfaction with treatment choice.