The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on follow-up of patients with early breast cancer: A patient survey.

Breast cancer Follow-up Patient survey Survivorship

Journal

Breast cancer research and treatment
ISSN: 1573-7217
Titre abrégé: Breast Cancer Res Treat
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 8111104

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
09 Jan 2024
Historique:
received: 27 04 2023
accepted: 14 12 2023
medline: 9 1 2024
pubmed: 9 1 2024
entrez: 9 1 2024
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

Despite limited evidence supporting its effectiveness, most guidelines recommend long-term, routinely scheduled in-person surveillance of patients with early breast cancer (EBC). The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased use of virtual care. This survey evaluated patient perspectives on follow-up care. Patients with EBC undergoing surveillance were surveyed about follow-up protocols, perceptions, and interest in clinical trials assessing different follow-up strategies. Of 402 approached patients 270 completed the survey (response rate 67%). Median age 62.5 years (range 25-86) and median time since breast cancer diagnosis was 3.8 years (range < 1-33 years). Most (n = 148/244, 60%) were followed by more than one provider. Routine follow-ups with breast examination were mostly conducted by medical/radiation oncologists every 6 months (n = 110/236, 46%) or annually (n = 106/236, 44%). Participants felt routine follow-up was useful to monitor for recurrence, manage side effects of cancer treatment and to provide support/reassurance. Most participants felt regular follow-up care would detect recurrent cancer earlier (n = 214/255, 96%) and increase survival (n = 218/249, 88%). The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the number of in-person visits for 54% of patients (n = 63/117). Patients were concerned this reduction of in-person visits would lead to later detection of both local (n = 29/63, 46%) and distant recurrences (n = 25/63, 40%). While many felt their medical and radiation oncologists were the most suited to provide follow-up care, 55% felt comfortable having their primary care provider (PCP) conduct surveillance. When presented with a scenario where follow-up has no effect on earlier detection or survival, 70% of patients still wanted routine in-person follow-up for reassurance (63%) with the goal of earlier recurrence detection (56%). Despite limited evidence of effectiveness of routine in-person assessment, patients continue to place importance on regularly scheduled in-person follow-up.

Identifiants

pubmed: 38194133
doi: 10.1007/s10549-023-07232-3
pii: 10.1007/s10549-023-07232-3
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Informations de copyright

© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

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Auteurs

Ana-Alicia Beltran-Bless (AA)

Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Gail Larocque (G)

The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Muriel Brackstone (M)

Department of Surgery, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada.

Angel Arnaout (A)

The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Department of Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Jean-Michel Caudrelier (JM)

The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Department of Radiation Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Denise Boone (D)

The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Parvaneh Fallah (P)

Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Terry Ng (T)

Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Cancer Therapeutics Program, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Peter Cross (P)

Department of Radiation Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Nasser Alqahtani (N)

Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

John Hilton (J)

Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Cancer Therapeutics Program, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Lisa Vandermeer (L)

Cancer Therapeutics Program, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Gregory Pond (G)

Department of Oncology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

Mark Clemons (M)

Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. mclemons@toh.ca.
The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada. mclemons@toh.ca.
Cancer Therapeutics Program, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada. mclemons@toh.ca.

Classifications MeSH