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PURPOSE: Systemic therapy use in the last 30 days of life (DOL) for patients with advanced cancer is a low-value medical practice. We hypothesized that systemic therapy use in the last 30 DOL increased after approval of antiprogrammed cell death protein 1 immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and has contributed to increased health care utilization and spending. METHODS: We investigated the change in prevalence of any systemic therapy use in the last 30 DOL among patients with advanced solid tumors in the 4 years before and after antiprogrammed cell death protein 1 ICI approval in 2014. We used cases from the Western Washington Cancer Surveillance System linked to commercial and Medicare insurance. We calculated the difference in prevalence between the pre- and post-ICI periods. We also calculated the annual prevalence of any systemic therapy and ICI use in the last 30 DOL and measured health care utilization (emergency department visits and hospitalizations) and costs during the last 30 DOL. RESULTS: Eight thousand eight hundred seventy-one patients (median age 73 years) were included; 34% and 66% in the pre-and post-ICI period, respectively. Systemic therapy use in the last 30 DOL was lower in the post-ICI versus pre-ICI period (12.4% v 14.4%; difference −2.0% [95% CI, −3.5 to −0.5]). The annual prevalence of systemic therapy use in the last 30 DOL also declined, although ICI use rose. Patients treated with ICIs in last 30 DOL had more emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and higher costs. CONCLUSION: Systemic therapy use in the last 30 DOL was lower in the period after ICI approval. However, ICI use rose over time and had higher utilization and costs in the last 30 DOL. Systemic therapy use in the last 30 DOL warrants monitoring, especially as more ICI indications are approved.

Background There is a need for automated approaches to incorporate information on cancer recurrence events into population-based cancer registries. Objective The aim of this study is to determine the accuracy of a novel data mining algorithm to extract information from linked registry and medical claims data on the occurrence and timing of second breast cancer events (SBCE). Methods We used supervised data from 3092 stage I and II breast cancer cases (with 394 recurrences), diagnosed between 1993 and 2006 inclusive, of patients at Kaiser Permanente Washington and cases in the Puget Sound Cancer Surveillance System. Our goal was to classify each month after primary treatment as pre- versus post-SBCE. The prediction feature set for a given month consisted of registry variables on disease and patient characteristics related to the primary breast cancer event, as well as features based on monthly counts of diagnosis and procedure codes for the current, prior, and future months. A month was classified as post-SBCE if the predicted probability exceeded a probability threshold (PT); the predicted time of the SBCE was taken to be the month of maximum increase in the predicted probability between adjacent months. Results The Kaplan-Meier net probability of SBCE was 0.25 at 14 years. The month-level receiver operating characteristic curve on test data (20% of the data set) had an area under the curve of 0.986. The person-level predictions (at a monthly PT of 0.5) had a sensitivity of 0.89, a specificity of 0.98, a positive predictive value of 0.85, and a negative predictive value of 0.98. The corresponding median difference between the observed and predicted months of recurrence was 0 and the mean difference was 0.04 months. Conclusions Data mining of medical claims holds promise for the streamlining of cancer registry operations to feasibly collect information about second breast cancer events.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess advanced imaging (bone scan, CT, or PET/CT) and serum tumor biomarker use in asymptomatic breast cancer survivors during the surveillance period. Patients and Methods: Cancer registry records for 2,923 women diagnosed with primary breast cancer in Washington State between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2014, were linked with claims data from 2 regional commercial insurance plans. Clinical data including demographic and tumor characteristics were collected. Evaluation and management codes from claims data were used to determine advanced imaging and serum tumor biomarker testing during the peridiagnostic and surveillance phases of care. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify clinical factors and patterns of peridiagnostic imaging and biomarker testing associated with surveillance advanced imaging. Results: Of 2,923 eligible women, 16.5% (n=480) underwent surveillance advanced imaging and 31.8% (n=930) received surveillance serum tumor biomarker testing. Compared with women diagnosed before the launch of the Choosing Wisely campaign in 2012, later diagnosis was associated with lower use of surveillance advanced imaging (odds ratio [OR], 0.68; 95% CI, 0.52–0.89). Factors significantly associated with use of surveillance advanced imaging included increasing disease stage (stage III: OR, 3.65; 95% CI, 2.48–5.38), peridiagnostic advanced imaging use (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.33–2.31), and peridiagnostic serum tumor biomarker testing (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.01–1.80). Conclusions: Although use of surveillance advanced imaging in asymptomatic breast cancer survivors has declined since the launch of the Choosing Wisely campaign, frequent use of surveillance serum tumor biomarker testing remains prevalent, representing a potential target for further efforts to reduce low-value practices.

Purpose Patients with cancer are more likely to file for bankruptcy than the general population, but the impact of severe financial distress on health outcomes among patients with cancer is not known. Methods We linked Western Washington SEER Cancer Registry records with federal bankruptcy records for the region. By using propensity score matching to account for differences in several demographic and clinical factors between patients who did and did not file for bankruptcy, we then fit Cox proportional hazards models to examine the relationship between bankruptcy filing and survival. Results Between 1995 and 2009, 231,596 persons were diagnosed with cancer. Patients who filed for bankruptcy (n = 4,728) were more likely to be younger, female, and nonwhite, to have local- or regional- (v distant-) stage disease at diagnosis, and have received treatment. After propensity score matching, 3,841 patients remained in each group (bankruptcy v no bankruptcy). In the matched sample, mean age was 53.0 years, 54% were men, mean income was $49,000, and majorities were white (86%), married (60%), and urban (91%) and had local- or regional-stage disease at diagnosis (84%). Both groups received similar initial treatments. The adjusted hazard ratio for mortality among patients with cancer who filed for bankruptcy versus those who did not was 1.79 (95% CI, 1.64 to 1.96). Hazard ratios varied by cancer type: colorectal, prostate, and thyroid cancers had the highest hazard ratios. Excluding patients with distant-stage disease from the models did not have an effect on results. Conclusion Severe financial distress requiring bankruptcy protection after cancer diagnosis appears to be a risk factor for mortality. Further research is needed to understand the process by which extreme financial distress influences survival after cancer diagnosis and to find strategies that could mitigate this risk.

Introduction In this prospective study of localized prostate cancer patients and their partners, we analyzed how partner issues evolve over time, focusing on satisfaction with care, influence of cancer treatment, and its impact on relationship with patient, cancer worry, and personal activities. Aims Our study aims were twofold: (i) to determine whether the impact of treatment on patients and partners moderate over time and (ii) if receiving surgery (i.e., radical prostatectomy) influences partner issues more than other treatments. Methods Patients newly diagnosed with localized prostate cancer and their female partners were recruited from three states to complete surveys by mail at three time points over 12 months. Main Outcome Measures The four primary outcomes assessed in the partner analysis included satisfaction with treatment, cancer worry, and the influence of cancer and its treatment on their relationship (both general relationship and sexual relationship). Results This analysis included 88 patient–partner pairs. At 6 months, partners reported that cancer had a negative impact on their sexual relationship (39%—somewhat negative and 12%—very negative). At 12 months, this proportion increased substantially (42%—somewhat negative and 29%—very negative). Partners were significantly more likely to report that their sexual relationship was worse when the patient reported having surgery ( P = 0.0045, odds ratio = 9.8025, 95% confidence interval 2.076–46.296). A minority of partners reported significant negative impacts in other areas involving their personal activities (16% at 6 months and 25% at 12 months) or work life (6% at 6 months, which increased to 12% at 12 months). Conclusion From partners' perspectives, prostate cancer therapy has negative impact on sexual relationships and appears to worsen over time. Ramsey SD, Zeliadt SB, Blough DK, Moinpour CM, Hall IJ, Smith JL, Ekwueme DU, Fedorenko CR, Fairweather ME, Koepl LM, Thompson IM, Keane TE, and Penson DF. Impact of prostate cancer on sexual relationships: A longitudinal perspective on intimate partners' experiences. J Sex Med 2013;10:3135–3143.

Much has been written about the relationship between a person’s high medical expenses and his or her likelihood of filing for bankruptcy, but the relationship between receiving a cancer diagnosis and filing for bankruptcy is less well understood. We estimated the incidence and relative risk of bankruptcy for people age twenty-one or older diagnosed with cancer compared to people the same age without cancer by conducting a retrospective cohort analysis that used a variety of medical, personal, legal, and bankruptcy sources covering the Western District of Washington State in US Bankruptcy Court for the period 1995–2009. We found that cancer patients were 2.65 times more likely to go bankrupt than people without cancer. Younger cancer patients had 2–5 times higher rates of bankruptcy compared to cancer patients age sixty-five or older, indicating that Medicare insurance and Social Security may mitigate bankruptcy risk for the older group. The findings suggest that employers and governments may have a policy role to play in creating programs and incentives that could help people cover expenses in the first year following a cancer diagnosis.