Perceived discrimination, patient-provider communication, and quality of life among breast cancer survivors: a mediation analysis.

Purpose: Breast cancer is common among women in the US and can impact survivors' quality of life (QoL). Perceived discrimination, defined as unfair treatment based on group membership, is often associated with poorer QoL, while effective patient-provider communication is often linked to better QoL. However, whether communication can mitigate the negative effects of discrimination remains unclear.

Addressing health literacy gaps in adjuvant endocrine therapy adherence: Post hoc insights from a randomized remote monitoring trial.

Adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) improves survival in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, yet adherence is often lower among individuals with limited health literacy. This post hoc analysis of the THRIVE trial examined whether health literacy modified the effectiveness of two remote monitoring interventions (App-only and App + Feedback) versus enhanced usual care (EUC) on 12-month AET adherence (≥80 % of prescribed doses via connected pillbox). Among participants with lower health literacy, adherence was higher with App + Feedback than EUC (80.

COVID-19-Related Financial Hardship and Adherence to Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy Among Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

Objective: To examine the association between COVID-19-related hardship and 1-year adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) adherence among women with early-stage hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer.

Study Setting And Design: This post hoc analysis utilized data from the THRIVE trial, which tested a 6-month remote monitoring intervention on 1-year AET adherence, measured using an electronic pillbox. The 1-year follow-up survey included questions about pandemic-related hardship, including financial loss, changes/gaps in health insurance, and difficulty accessing basic needs.

Detection of Early-Stage Colorectal Cancer Using Cell-Free oncRNA Biomarkers and Artificial Intelligence.

Purpose: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and early detection significantly improves treatment outcomes, but existing blood-based tests often have limited sensitivity in early-stage disease. We developed a blood-based test combining orphan noncoding RNAs (oncRNA), a group of small cell-free RNAs, with generative artificial intelligence to detect colorectal cancer.

Experimental Design: We leveraged a cohort of 613 colorectal cancer cases and controls to train a model that demonstrated both high clinical performance and minimal technical variability in robustness testing.

Correlation analysis of invasive disease-free survival and overall survival in a real-world population of patients with HR+/HER2- early breast cancer.

Background: Overall survival (OS) is the gold standard for assessing clinical benefit in oncology but requires extended follow-up to detect sufficient events. Invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) requires shorter follow-up times and is considered an objective and clinically meaningful end point in early breast cancer (EBC) trials. The authors assessed iDFS as a surrogate end point for OS in adjuvant HR+/HER2- EBC using real-world patient-level data.

Real-world risk of recurrence and treatment outcomes with adjuvant endocrine therapy in patients with stage II-III HR+/HER2- early breast cancer.

Background: Despite adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET), recurrence is still a concern for patients with HR+/HER2- early breast cancer (EBC). We assessed recurrence risk in real-world patients with stage II/III HR+/HER2- EBC treated with adjuvant ET.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the ConcertAI Patient360 database (January 1995 to April 2021) of patients with stage II/III HR+/HER2- EBC ≥18 years who underwent surgery and received adjuvant ET.

Nausea and vomiting in an evolving anticancer treatment landscape: long-delayed and emetogenic antibody-drug conjugates.

Nausea and vomiting are common, distressing side effects associated with chemotherapeutic regimens, resulting in reduced quality of life and treatment adherence. Appropriate antiemetic prophylaxis strategies may reduce/prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). Historically, investigators assessed antiemetics up to 120 hours after chemotherapy.

Symptom Monitoring App Use Associated With Medication Adherence Among Woman Survivors of Breast Cancer on Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy.

Purpose: Oral adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) reduces the risk of cancer recurrence and death for women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer. Because of adverse symptoms and socioecologic barriers, AET adherence rates are low. We conducted post hoc analyses of a randomized trial of a remote symptom and adherence monitoring app to evaluate characteristics associated with higher app use, satisfaction, and how app use was associated with AET adherence.

A novel liquid biopsy assay for detection of (HER2) amplification in circulating tumor cells (CTCs).

Purpose: Circulating tumor cell (CTC)-based (HER2) assay is a laboratory test developed by Epic Sciences using single-cell genomics to detect (HER2) amplification in CTCs found in the peripheral blood of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients.

Patients And Methods: Peripheral blood was collected in Streck tubes and centrifugation was used to remove plasma and red blood cells. The remaining nucleated cells were deposited on glass slides, immunofluorescent-stained with proprietary antibodies, scanned by a high-definition digital scanner, and analyzed by a proprietary algorithm.

The impact of cancer-related diarrhea on changes in cancer therapy.

Purpose: The impact of cancer-related diarrhea (CRD) on changes in cancer therapy remains poorly characterized despite its prevalence.

Methods: We performed a longitudinal observational study using IQVIA PharMetrics Plus claims data. Patients included adults with CRD identified by diagnosis codes or pharmacy claims and compared their outcomes to matched (1:1) patients without CRD.

Onco-Primary Care of Patients Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

Primary clinicians foster long-term relationships with patients and play key roles in the treatment journey for patients with cancer. Primary clinicians are important members of the multidisciplinary team and are central in coordinating and providing supportive care. The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in adjuvant/neoadjuvant treatments and metastatic disease requires an awareness of their long-term survival benefits and immune-related adverse events (irAEs).

Remote Monitoring App for Endocrine Therapy Adherence Among Patients With Early-Stage Breast Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) use among women with early-stage, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer reduces the risk of cancer recurrence, but its adverse symptoms contribute to lower adherence.

Objective: To test whether remote monitoring of symptoms and treatment adherence with or without tailored text messages improves outcomes among women with breast cancer who are prescribed AET.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This nonblinded, randomized clinical trial (RCT) following intention-to-treat principles included English-speaking women with early-stage breast cancer prescribed AET at a large cancer center with 14 clinics across 3 states from November 15, 2018, to June 11, 2021.

On-body injector pegfilgrastim for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia prophylaxis: Current Status.

Introduction: Myelosuppression, a challenge in cancer treatment, often results in severe complications. Prophylactic granulocyte colony-stimulating factors, particularly pegfilgrastim, mitigate chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. This narrative review evaluates the role of on-body injector (OBI) devices for pegfilgrastim administration.

Activity and safety of enobosarm, a novel, oral, selective androgen receptor modulator, in androgen receptor-positive, oestrogen receptor-positive, and HER2-negative advanced breast cancer (Study G200802): a randomised, open-label, multicentre, multinational, parallel design, phase 2 trial.

Background: The androgen receptor is a tumour suppressor in oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. The activity and safety of enobosarm, an oral selective androgen receptor modulator, was evaluated in women with oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative, and androgen receptor (AR)-positive disease.

Methods: Women who were postmenopausal (aged ≥18 years) with previously treated ER-positive, HER2-negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-2 were enrolled in a randomised, open-label, multicentre, multinational, parallel design, phase 2 trial done at 35 cancer treatment centres in nine countries.

Managing hyperglycemia and rash associated with alpelisib: expert consensus recommendations using the Delphi technique.

Hyperglycemia and rash are expected but challenging adverse events of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibition (such as with alpelisib). Two modified Delphi panels were conducted to provide consensus recommendations for managing hyperglycemia and rash in patients taking alpelisib. Experts rated the appropriateness of interventions on a 1-to-9 scale; median scores and dispersion were used to classify the levels of agreement.

2023 updated MASCC/ESMO Consensus recommendations: Prevention of nausea and vomiting following moderately emetic risk antineoplastic agents.

Purpose: Review the literature to update the MASCC guidelines from 2015 for controlling nausea and vomiting with systemic cancer treatment of moderate emetic potential.

Methods: A systematic literature review was completed using Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases. The literature search was done from June 2015 to January 2023 of the management of antiemetic prophylaxis for anticancer therapy of moderate emetic potential.

2023 updated MASCC/ESMO consensus recommendations: controlling nausea and vomiting with chemotherapy of low or minimal emetic potential.

Purpose: Review the literature to update the MASCC guidelines from 2016 for controlling nausea and vomiting with systemic cancer treatment of low and minimal emetic potential.

Methods: A working group performed a systematic literature review using Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases between June 2015 and January 2023 of the management of antiemetic prophylaxis for anticancer therapy of low or minimal emetic potential. A consensus committee reviewed recommendations and required a consensus of 67% or greater and a change in outcome of at least 10%.

Work loss and activity impairment due to extended nausea and vomiting in patients with breast cancer receiving CINV prophylaxis.

Purpose: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV)'s impact on work loss remains poorly described. We evaluated associations between the duration of CINV episodes, CINV-related work loss (CINV-WL), and CINV-related activity impairment (CINV-AI) in patients with breast cancer receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy.

Methods: We analyzed data from a prospective CINV prophylaxis trial of netupitant/palonestron and dexamethasone for patients receiving an anthracycline and cyclophosphamide (AC) for breast cancer (NCT0340371).

Improving biomarker testing in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer: experience from a large community oncology network in the USA.

Biomarker testing detects actionable driver mutations to inform first-line treatment in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) and metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). This study evaluated biomarker testing in a nationwide database (NAT) versus the OneOncology (OneOnc) community network. Patients with aNSCLC or mCRC with ≥1 biomarker test in a de-identified electronic health record-derived database were evaluated.

Impact of early detection on cancer curability: A modified Delphi panel study.

Expert consensus on the potential benefits of early cancer detection does not exist for most cancer types. We convened 10 practicing oncologists using a RAND/UCLA modified Delphi panel to evaluate which of 20 solid tumors, representing >40 American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)-identified cancer types and 80% of total cancer incidence, would receive potential clinical benefits from early detection. Pre-meeting, experts estimated how long cancers take to progress and rated the current curability and benefit (improvement in curability) of an annual hypothetical multi-cancer screening blood test.

Duration of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV) as a Predictor of Recurrent CINV in Later Cycles.

Background: The relationship between CINV duration and recurrence in subsequent cycles is largely unstudied. Our objective was to determine if patients experiencing CINV in their first cycle of chemotherapy (C1) would face increased risk of CINV in later cycles and whether the duration of the CINV would predict increased risk of recurrence.

Patients And Methods: Using data from a previously reported phase III trial, we assessed patients' recurrence of breakthrough CINV after antiemetic prophylaxis for anthracycline+cyclophosphamide (AC) for breast cancer, comparing C1 short CINV vs.

An examination of health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic among women with early-stage hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

Background: Women undergoing treatment for breast cancer require frequent clinic visits for maintenance of therapy. With COVID-19 causing health care disruptions, it is important to learn about how this population's access to health care has changed. This study compares self-reported health care utilization and changes in factors related to health care access among women treated at a cancer center in the mid-South US before and during the pandemic.

Mobile application to support oncology patients during treatment on patient outcomes: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Cancer treatment requires substantial demands on patients and their caregivers. Mobile apps can provide support for self-management during oncology treatment, but few have been rigorously evaluated.

Methods: A 3-month randomized controlled trial was conducted at a large cancer center to evaluate the efficacy of an app (LivingWith®) that provides self-management support during cancer treatment on quality of life and health care utilization.

Race Differences in Patient-Reported Symptoms during Chemotherapy among Women with Early-Stage Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer.

Background: Symptom burden differences may contribute to racial disparities in breast cancer survival. We compared symptom changes from before to during chemotherapy among women with breast cancer.

Methods: This observational study followed a cohort of Black and White women diagnosed with Stage I-III, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer from a large cancer center in 2007 to 2015, and reported symptoms before and during chemotherapy.