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ASH Study Finds One-Third of Families in Pediatric ALL Care Face Severe Financial Strain

Researchers urge routine financial screening to catch hardship that emerges during prolonged ALL therapy.

Overview

  • A correlative analysis within the phase 3 DFCI ALL 16-001 trial tracked 422 families with surveys at diagnosis and at 6, 12, and 24 months.
  • By 24 months, 30.0% of families reported new household material hardship and 31.5% had lost at least 25% of annual income during treatment.
  • Among 307 families with no hardship at diagnosis, 24.3% later developed hardship and 27.9% experienced catastrophic income loss.
  • Higher risk was observed for Hispanic and non‑Hispanic Black families, single-parent households, non‑dominant language speakers, Medicaid-insured families, and households below 200% of the federal poverty level.
  • Investigators cited two years of multiagent chemotherapy with roughly 200 outpatient visits and 40 inpatient days as a driver and are testing benefits counseling and direct cash transfers as some centers add food and transportation supports.