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Abstract Background Current studies on adherence to endocrine therapy in breast cancer patients suffer from methodological limitations due to a lack of well-validated methods for assessing adherence. There is no gold standard for measuring adherence. The aim of our study was to compare four different approaches for evaluating adherence to anastrozole therapy for breast cancer with regard to concordance between methods. Methods Outpatients with early breast cancer treated with anastrozole completed the multi-method assessment of adherence. We implemented a self-report scale (the Simplified Medication Adherence Questionnaire), physician- ratings, refill records and determination of anastrozole serum concentration. Results Comparison of the four approaches using Spearman rank correlation revealed poor concordance across all methods reflecting weak correlations of 0.2-0.4. Considering this data incomparability across methods, we still observed high adherence rates of 78%-98% across measures. Conclusion Our findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the impact that methodological aspects exert on the results of adherence measurement in breast cancer patients receiving endocrine treatment. Our findings suggest that the development and validation of instruments specific to patients receiving endocrine agents is imperative in order to arrive at a more accurate assessment and to subsequently obtain more precise estimates of adherence rates in this patient population.

Abstract Background Diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer (OC) entail severe symptom burden and a significant loss of quality of life (QOL). Somatic and psychological impairments may persist well beyond active therapy. Although essential for optimal symptom management as well as for the interpretation of treatment outcomes, knowledge on the course of QOL-related issues is scarce. This study aimed at assessing the course of depressive symptoms, anxiety, fatigue and QOL in patients with OC over the course of chemotherapy until early after-care. Methods 23 patients were assessed longitudinally (eight time points) with regard to symptom burden (depression, anxiety, fatigue, and QOL) by means of patient-reported outcome instruments (HADS, MFI-20, EORTC QLQ-C30/-OV28) and clinician ratings (HAMA/D) at each chemotherapy cycle and at the first two aftercare visits. Results Statistically significant decrease over time was found for depressive symptoms and anxiety as well as for all fatigue scales. With regard to QOL, results indicated significant increase for 11 of 15 QOL scales, best for Social (effect size = 1.95; p < 0.001), Emotional (e.s. = 1.62; p < 0.001) and Physical Functioning (e.s. = 1.47; p < 0.001). Abdominal Symptoms (e.s. = 1.01; p = 0.009) decreased, Attitudes towards Disease and Treatment (e.s. = 1.80; p < 0.001) improved significantly over time. Analysis of Sexual Functioning was not possible due to a high percentage of missing responses (61.9%). Conclusions The present study underlines the importance of longitudinal assessment of QOL in order to facilitate the identification of symptom burden in OC patients. We found that patients show high levels of fatigue, anxiety and depressive symptoms and severely impaired QOL post-surgery (i.e. at start of chemotherapy) but condition improves considerably throughout chemotherapy reaching nearly general population symptoms levels until aftercare.

Background: Cancer survivorship is of increasing importance in post-treatment care. Sexual health (SH) and femininity can be crucial issues for women surviving cancer. We aimed to determine a more complete understanding of the contribution that a breast cancer (BC) diagnosis and its treatment exert on patients' follow-up SH. For this purpose, self-reported levels and predictors of SH in breast cancer survivors (BCS) were compared with those of women with no previous or current BC (WNBC)., Methods: BCS and WNBC underwent a comprehensive, cross-sectional patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment. Validated PRO instruments were used to measure SH, body image, anxiety and depression and menopausal symptoms. Assessments were performed within the routine clinical setting. Instruments used were the Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory - Female, Sexual Activity Questionnaire, Body Image Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire., Results: One hundred five BCS (average time since diagnosis of 3 years) and 97 WNBC with a mean age of 49 years completed the assessment. SH was significantly worse in BCS compared to WNBC (p = 0.005; BCS SIDI-F mean = 24.9 vs. WNBC mean = 29.8). 68.8% of BCS and 58.8% of WNBC met criteria of a hypo-active sexual desire disorder. Higher depressive symptoms, higher age and lower partnership satisfaction were predictive for poorer SH in BCS., Conclusion: SH problems are apparent in BCS and differ significantly from those seen in the general population. Consequently, BC survivorship care should include interventions to ameliorate sexual dysfunction and provide help with depressive symptoms and partnership problems, which are associated with poor BCS SH.