ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S97

Invited Speaker

ESTRO 2025

evaluated peer support interventions targeting this population. The Peer2Me intervention was developed to address this gap by pairing acute AYA patients with trained AYA cancer survivors, thereby fostering shared experiences and mutual support.

Methods: The Peer2Me intervention is a three-month peer mentoring programme designed for acute AYA cancer patients, referred to as mentees, who are aged between 18 and 39 years, have received a cancer diagnosis within the last six months, and are undergoing a curative treatment approach. Mentors, who are also aged between 18 and 39 years and at least two years post-cancer diagnosis, are required to participate in a comprehensive training programme that covers motivational interviewing, disease-specific topics, and crisis intervention. A comprehensive cohort design with repeated measures was utilised, with assessments conducted at baseline (t1) and after three months (t2). Participants were assigned to either the intervention group, which received peer support, or a control group receiving standard care, based on their preferences. The matching of AYA tandems was conducted according to gender, age, and tumour entity, and the mentoring sessions were carried out through face-to-face meetings or via virtual platforms such as Zoom or telephone. The primary outcomes measured were self-efficacy, using the Self Efficacy Expectancy (SWE) scale (range 0–40), and global life satisfaction, assessed via the FLZ-M scale (range 1–5). Statistical analyses included paired samples t-tests and ANCOVA to evaluate changes within and between the groups. Results: A total of 77 mentees participated in the intervention, with 29 individuals in the control group and 48 mentors involved in the programme. On average, mentees initiated the mentoring process approximately 3.6 months after their initial diagnosis. Approximately 50% of the mentees attended meetings with their mentors a minimum of four times during the three-month intervention period. While no significant changes were observed in self-efficacy scores within either group, or between the intervention and control groups, a significant improvement in global life satisfaction was observed among both mentors and mentees. Conversely, the control group demonstrated a substantial decline in global life satisfaction during the same period. Subgroup analyses revealed that mentees diagnosed with testicular, gynecological, or thyroid cancers, as well as those with children, exhibited the most pronounced improvements in global life satisfaction. The absence of significant findings regarding self efficacy may be attributed to the relatively brief duration of the intervention, the sensitivity of the chosen measurement instrument, and the heterogeneous nature of the participant sample. Conclusion: The findings from the Peer2Me study emphasise the clinical relevance of peer support interventions for AYAs with cancer, particularly in enhancing global life satisfaction. While the three-month mentoring period may have been insufficient to engender substantial changes in self-efficacy, the observed improvements in life satisfaction suggest that personalised, peer-supported care confers tangible benefits. It is recommended that future research extend the duration of the intervention and employ more sensitive instruments to fully capture its impact. The subgroup effects, which were found to be promising, suggest that further personalisation of the intervention could lead to even more favourable outcomes. Despite the lack of statistical significance in certain measures, participant feedback indicates individual improvements, thereby supporting the ongoing development and evaluation of peer support programs for young adults diagnosed with cancer.

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Speaker Abstracts Healthcare policy: What are our hospitals and departments going to ask us to do? Jean-Francois Daisne Radiation Oncology, Iridium Cancer Network, Wilrijk (Antwerp), Belgium