Capturing longer term surgical outcome measures as part of routine care of breast cancer patients

Area of Science:

• Oncoplastic surgery
• Breast cancer survivorship
• Patient-reported outcomes

Background:

• Transitioning from routine follow-up to imaging surveillance and patient-initiated contact in breast cancer care limits communication on long-term treatment effects.
• Current guidelines recommend collecting post-operative images and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), but lack implementation guidance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and uptake of collecting 2D images and PROMs in breast cancer surveillance.
• To explore associations between patient factors and participation in data collection.

Main Methods:

• Women undergoing surveillance mammograms were invited to complete BREAST-Q questionnaires and medical photography.
• Panel assessment of photographs and results presentation to the oncoplastic multidisciplinary team (MDT).
• Investigation of demographic and clinic-pathological factors associated with participation.

Main Results:

• Uptake for questionnaires, photography, and both was 20.3%, 15.0%, and 9.4% respectively.
• Higher BMI was associated with lower questionnaire response; complex oncoplastic procedures correlated with higher response rates.
• Patient-reported outcome results aligned with existing literature.

Conclusions:

• Integrating images with PROMs and feedback was valuable for the clinical team.
• Barriers to patient participation must be identified to improve representativeness.
• Quantifying photographic appearance could aid aesthetic outcome summarization.