Poster can be found in location 35.

Background: Lung cancer is by many perceived as prognosis pessima, entailing severe existential consequences and suffering related to symptoms and disease. Immunotherapy is recommended as adjuvant treatment in unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer, extending total treatment period by up to twelve months. Research regarding the experiences of people undergoing immunotherapy is lacking. Experiences relating to existential concerns are especially poorly understood making it difficult for healthcare personnel to support patients and their relatives. Aims: To describe the existential concerns during adjuvant treatment with immunotherapy for locally advanced lung cancer and at what points in time support is needed the most. Method: This qualitative study performed within an abductive reasoning includes interviews with patients undergoing adjuvant treatment with immunotherapy for locally advanced lung cancer and their relatives (n=30). Irvin Yalom’s concepts describing existential fundamentals serves as the framework of the deductive analysis to identify existential concerns and boundary situations where existential concerns actualize and intensify. An inductive analysis will be performed to further understand need of support and what personal and external resources are used during treatment.    Results: So far 17 interviews have been performed. Current analysis shows that the interviewees express several existential concerns and categories are identified for each of the main existential concerns described by Yalom. The various existential concerns intersect and are interconnected, with crossings shedding light on the different resources that patients and their relatives use. Recognizing the intertwined existential concerns pinpoint specific boundary situations in which support can be needed. Discussion: The intersections among the existential concerns understood as boundary situations is a new way of understanding the experience of undergoing an immunotherapy treatment period for lung cancer. By identifying the boundary situations in every person's treatment, healthcare personnel can accurately and efficiently intervene, strengthening the resources of each affected person.