Optimisation of steroid prophylaxis schedules in breast cancer patients receiving docetaxel chemotherapy—a survey of health care providers and patients

Abstract Purpose To identify factors associated with (perceived) access to health care among (ex-)breast cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Cross-sectional study within a large prospective, multicenter cohort of (ex-)breast cancer patients, i.e., UMBRELLA. All participants enrolled in the UMBRELLA cohort between October 2013 and April 2020 were sent a COVID-19-specific survey, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire. Results In total, 1051 (66.0%) participants completed the survey. During COVID-19, 284 (27.0%) participants reported clinically relevant increased levels of anxiety and/or depression, i.e., total HADS score ≥ 12. Participants with anxiety and/or depression reported statistically significant higher barriers to contact their general practitioner (47.5% vs. 25.0%, resp.) and breast cancer physicians (26.8% vs. 11.2%, resp.) compared to participants without these symptoms. In addition, a higher proportion of participants with anxiety and/or depression reported that their current treatment or (after)care was affected by COVID-19 compared to those without these symptoms (32.7% vs. 20.5%, resp.). Factors independently associated with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression during COVID-19 were pre-existent anxiety (OR 6.1, 95% CI 4.1–9.2) or depression (OR 6.0, 95% CI 3.5–10.2). Conclusion During the COVID-19 pandemic, (ex-)breast cancer patients with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression experience higher barriers to contact health care providers. Also, they more often report that their health care was affected by COVID-19. Risk factors for anxiety and/or depression during COVID-19 are pre-existent symptoms of anxiety or depression. Extra attention—including mental health support—is needed for this group.

Download Full-text

Perceived Barriers to Early Diagnosis of Breast Cancer in South and South Western Ethiopia: a qualitative study

10.21203/rs.2.13446/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Sefonias Getachew ◽

Aragaw Tesfaw ◽

Mirgissa Kaba ◽

Andreas Wienke ◽

Lesley Taylor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Health Care ◽

Early Diagnosis ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Diagnostic Tests ◽

Perceived Barriers ◽

Care Providers ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract Background Early diagnosis is a key determinant of breast cancer prognosis and survival. More than half of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage in Ethiopia, and the barriers to early diagnosis in this country are not well understood. We aimed to identify the perceived barriers to early diagnosis of breast cancer from the perspective of patients and health care providers in south and southwestern Ethiopia. Methods A qualitative study was conducted from March to April 2018 using in-depth interviews of breast cancer patients and breast cancer health care providers from six public hospitals located in urban and rural areas of south and southwestern Ethiopia. All participants proved verbal consent before participating. A thematic analysis was performed using Open Code 4.02. Results Twelve breast cancer patients and thirteen health care providers were included in the study. Patient and health-system related barriers to early diagnosis of breast cancer were identified. Patient-related barriers were lack of knowledge and awareness of breast cancer, belief in traditional medicine and religious practices for treatment, and lack of social and financial support to seek care at a medical facility. Health-system related barriers were misdiagnosis of breast cancer, long distance to referral facilities, high cost of diagnostic services, long waiting time for diagnostic tests, and lack of screening and diagnostic tests in local facilities. Conclusions Early diagnosis of breast cancer is affected by multiple barriers in south and southwestern Ethiopia. Awareness campaigns and education about the disease, prevention, and early detection are needed to increase early diagnosis of breast cancer. Opportunities exist to improve early diagnosis and timely treatment in rural areas.

Download Full-text

Perceived Barriers to Early Diagnosis of Breast Cancer in South and South Western Ethiopia: a qualitative study

10.21203/rs.2.13446/v2 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Sefonias Getachew ◽

Aragaw Tesfaw ◽

Mirgissa Kaba ◽

Andreas Wienke ◽

Lesley Taylor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Health Care ◽

Early Diagnosis ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Diagnostic Tests ◽

Perceived Barriers ◽

Care Providers ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract Background Early diagnosis is a key determinant of breast cancer prognosis and survival. More than half of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage in Ethiopia, and the barriers to early diagnosis in this country are not well understood. We aimed to identify the perceived barriers to early diagnosis of breast cancer from the perspective of patients and health care providers in south and southwestern Ethiopia. Methods A qualitative study was conducted from March to April 2018 using in-depth interviews of breast cancer patients and breast cancer health care providers from six public hospitals located in urban and rural areas of south and southwestern Ethiopia. All participants proved verbal consent before participating. A thematic analysis was performed using Open Code 4.02. Results Twelve breast cancer patients and thirteen health care providers were included in the study. Patient and health-system related barriers to early diagnosis of breast cancer were identified. Patient-related barriers were lack of knowledge and awareness of breast cancer, belief in traditional medicine and religious practices for treatment, and lack of social and financial support to seek care at a medical facility. Health-system related barriers were misdiagnosis of breast cancer, long distance to referral facilities, high cost of diagnostic services, long waiting time for diagnostic tests, and lack of screening and diagnostic tests in local facilities. Conclusions Early diagnosis of breast cancer is affected by multiple barriers in south and southwestern Ethiopia. Awareness campaigns and education about the disease, prevention, and early detection are needed to increase early diagnosis of breast cancer. Opportunities exist to improve early diagnosis and timely treatment in rural areas.

Download Full-text

Social Relationships and Its Association With Affective Symptoms of Women With Breast Cancer: a Scoping Review

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1005008/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yesol Yang ◽

Yufen Lin ◽

Grace Sikapokoo ◽

Se Hee Min ◽

Nicole Caviness-Ashe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Sample Type ◽

Cognitive Symptoms ◽

Care Providers ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Affective Symptoms

Abstract Background: Problems in affective and cognitive functioning are among the most common concurrent symptoms that breast cancer patients report. Social relationships may provide some explanations of the clinical variability in affective-cognitive symptoms. Evidence suggests that social relationships (functional and structural aspects) can be associated with patients’ affective-cognitive symptoms; however, such an association has not been well studied in the context of breast cancer. The purpose of this scoping review was to address the following question: What social relationships are associated with affective-cognitive symptoms of women with breast cancer? This scoping review used the framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley and PRISMA-Sc. Extracted data included research aims, design, sample, type and measures of social relationships (functional and structural), and the association between social relationships and affective-cognitive symptoms. Results: Of sixty-five included studies, none of them focused on cognitive symptoms of breast cancer patients; thus, in this review, we focused on only the affective symptoms of breast cancer patients and their association with patients’ both aspects of social relationships. Conclusion: Our findings reveal that positive social relationships benefit in mitigating affective symptoms of women with breast cancer. Thus, health care providers need to educate patients about the importance of building solid social relationships and encourage them to participate in a supportive network of friends and family members.

Download Full-text

Experiences of Patients Diagnosed and Living With Metastatic Breast Cancer in Kumasi, Ghana: A Lesion to Learn From Low-Middle Income Country

Journal of Global Oncology ◽

10.1200/jgo.18.40600 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement 2) ◽

pp. 8s-8s

Author(s):

C. Asoogo ◽

M. Hoyte-Williams ◽

B. Dwobeng ◽

D. Sam ◽

E. Amankwa-Frimpong

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Health Care ◽

Metastatic Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Support Groups ◽

Metastatic Breast ◽

Care Providers ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Financial Changes ◽

Fear And Anxiety

Background: Breast cancer is a leading cause of death among women in Ghana. About 50% of cases seen at the oncology directorate are breast cancer-related, and 85% of these cases present in advanced stage with very poor prognosis and high mortality. Objectives: To explore and describe the experiences of patients diagnosed and living with metastatic breast cancer. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study design was used to involved breast cancer patients at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital who comes from various social and ethnic groups as well as geographically distinct areas from the vast territory of the Ashanti region and the Northern part of Ghana. Convenient sampling was used to select 120 participants for the study using semistructured questionnaire. Data of their social and demographic background and experiences living with metastatic breast cancer were obtained after seeking informed consent. Results: The study revealed that 12% of participants diagnosed and living with metastatic breast cancer experience loneliness and devastated, 22% experience fear and anxiety, while 35% experience stigma from both family and the society. Moreover, feeling of anger and hopelessness also account for 15%, 11% experience financial changes, while 5% of participants experience both physical and emotional pain with their diagnosis and treatment. Recommendations were made for policy makers, health care professionals, and other researchers. These include the need for intensified metastatic breast cancer awareness campaigns, educating health care providers on the need for professional counseling on metastatic breast cancer and the need to organized support groups, so that patients could contact each other. Emphasis should be placed on training of nurses to deal with issues relating to metastatic breast cancer. Conclusion: Generally, fear and anxiety, stigma, feeling of loneliness, devastated, anger and hopelessness, emotional and physical pain and financial changes are the variables that explain the experiences of women diagnosed and living with metastatic breast cancer. Some support groups has shown an improvement, therefore efforts to raise public awareness of metastatic breast cancer should be continued. The current study became imperative to fill this identified gap and improve health interventions and health outcomes for metastatic breast cancer patients in future.

Download Full-text

Inquiry and computer program Onko-Online: 25 years of clinical registry for breast cancer at the University Medical Centre Maribor

Radiology and Oncology ◽

10.2478/raon-2019-0043 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 53 (3) ◽

pp. 348-356

Author(s):

Darja Arko ◽

Iztok Takac

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Computer Program ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Cancer Registries ◽

International Standards ◽

Care Providers ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Clinical Registry

Abstract Background High-quality routine care data collected in the clinical registry play a significant role in improving the management of cancer patients. Clinical cancer registries record important data in the course of cancer diagnosis, treatment, follow-up and survival. Analyses of such comprehensive data pool make it possible to improve the quality of patients care and compare with other health care providers. Methods The first inquiry at the Department of Gynaecologic and Breast Oncology of the then General Hospital Maribor to follow breast cancer patients has been introduced in 1994. Based on our experience and new approaches in breast cancer treatment, the context of inquiry has been changed and extended to the present form, which served as a model for developing a relevant computer programme named Onko-Online in 2014. Results During the 25-year period, we collected data from about 3,600 breast cancer patients. The computer program Onko-Online allowed for quick and reliable collection, processing and analysis of 167 different data of breast cancer patients including general information, medical history, diagnostics, treatment, and follow-up. Conclusions The clinical registry for breast cancer Onko-Online provides data that help us to improve diagnostics and treatment of breast cancer patients, organize the daily practice and to compare the results of our treatment to the national and international standards. A limitation of the registry is the potentially incomplete or incorrect data input by different healthcare providers, involved in the treatment of breast cancer patients.

Download Full-text

Overexpression of PBK/TOPK Relates to Poor Prognosis of Patients With Breast Cancer: A Retrospective Analysis

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1250525/v1 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Liang Qiao ◽

Jinling Ba ◽

Jiping Xie ◽

Ruiping Zhu ◽

Yi Wan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Clinicopathological Parameters ◽

Care Providers ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Cancer Management ◽

The Difference ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Background: PDZ-binding kinase/T lymphokine-activated killer cell-derived protein kinase (PBK/TOPK) is a potential prognostic indicator for patients with breast cancer. The objective of the present study was to explore the relationship between PBK/TOPK expression and clinicopathological indicators as well as the survival of patients with breast cancer.Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of PBK/TOPK in 202 cases of breast cancer tissues. The relationship between PBK/TOPK and clinicopathological parameters was evaluated using Spearman's rank-order correlation. The difference in PBK/TOPK expression among different molecular types was analyzed with the chi square test. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to create a survival curve and the log rank test was used to analyze the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Prognostic correlation was assessed using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses.Results: Among 202 breast cancer samples, PBK/TOPK was expressed ('+' and '++') in 182 samples (90.1%). In addition, the histological grade, TNM stages, lymph node metastasis, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2), and Ki-67 were positively associated with PBK/TOPK expression. With regard to the molecular type, the expression of PBK/TOPK is different. The expression level of PBK/TOPK was negatively correlated with both the OS and DFS of breast cancer patients. The difference in the above results is meaningful (P<0.05).Conclusions: PBK/TOPK is over-expressed in breast cancer and the expression is closely related to the clinicopathological characteristics of the disease. Breast cancer patients with high expression of PBK/TOPK have a poor prognosis. Therefore, health care providers can optimize breast cancer management using this indicator.

Download Full-text