Treatment Experience of Early-Stage Hormone Receptor-Positive, Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Negative...

This study evaluated the experiences of patients with hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative early-stage breast cancer (EBC) in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK, including satisfaction with how well they are coping with their EBC, their wellbeing, knowledge and awareness of their disease, symptoms of treatment, and factors associated with coping.

Data were collected cross-sectionally using a real-world, multinational, point-in-time observational study (2019 Adelphi EBC Disease Specific Programme^™ [DSP]) during June-October 2019. Physicians who manage/treat EBC completed online patient record forms (PRFs) and their patients were asked to complete a paper-based voluntary patient self-completion (PSC) form. Regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with coping with EBC.

Of 1,859 patients with PRFs, 925 (49.8%) completed a PSC and were the focus of this analysis. The majority (69.9%) of patients reported being satisfied with their coping with EBC and reported overall mean Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast scores (scale 0-28) of 21.6 for physical wellbeing and 14.4 for functional wellbeing. Most patients (87.3%) reported being informed about at least one disease characteristic. Half of patients reported being actively involved in their breast cancer treatment decisions, although some patients (23.1% overall) reported being involved in these decisions, but they did not want to be. Physicians were a source of information on breast cancer for 89.9% of patients. Patients reported a wide range of symptoms, and 68.6% of patients reported that EBC had affected their ability to work. Ability to work (including work at home) was also the only actionable factor clearly associated with positive coping in our regression analysis. Significant differences among countries were found for almost all aspects evaluated.

Most patients were satisfied with how well they were coping, which is encouraging. Despite the overall symptom burden, high health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was generally maintained, providing reassurance that adjuvant treatment approaches can be administered without detrimental effects on HRQoL. Joint decision-making may help some patients, but others may prefer less involvement in treatment decisions. Helping patients continue employment may be beneficial from both a personal and an economic perspective.