Financial Hardship after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Lack of Impact on Survival.

Background: Financial hardship is a growing challenge for patients with blood cancer who undergo hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), and it is associated with poor patient-reported outcomes. In contrast, little is known about the potential impact of patient-reported financial hardship on post-HCT survival. Methods: We sought to describe the association of financial hardship with survival after HCT in a prospectively assembled cohort of patients from three large transplant centers ( n = 325). Results: There was no association between financial hardship measures assessed at 6 months post-HCT and 1- or 2-year survival after HCT. Conclusions: Patient-reported financial distress after HCT does not seem to adversely affect post-HCT survival. Impact: When assessing the effectiveness of interventions to ameliorate familial financial burden among HCT, the focus should be on patient-reported outcomes rather than survival. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(3); 345-7. ©2018 AACR .