Search

Background: Breast cancer patients' self-understanding of their disease can impact their quality of life (QoL); the relationship between compliance and QoL is poorly understood. Patients and Methods: The Patient's Anastrozole Compliance to Therapy (PACT) program, a prospective, randomized study, investigated the effect of additional patient information material (IM) packages on compliance with adjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer. The QoL subanalysis presented here examined the impact of IM packages on QoL and the association between QoL and compliance. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 questionnaires were completed at baseline, 12 and 24 months, or study termination to assess health-related QoL and disease-related symptoms. Results: Of the 4,844 patients randomized to standard therapy or standard therapy + IM packages (1:1), 4,253 were available for QoL analysis. No difference in QoL was observed between groups at baseline. IM packages did not have a statistically significant impact on patient QoL at the 12- or 24-month follow-up. Compliant patients experienced improvement in multiple items across the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 scales at 12 months. However, those results should be interpreted carefully due to limitations in the statistical analyses. Conclusions: Provision of IM packages did not influence patients' QoL or satisfaction with care during AI therapy. Compliant patients appear to experience improved QoL compared to noncompliant patients, perhaps indicating a more self-empowered perception of their condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Patient's Anastrozole Compliance to Therapy (PACT) program is a large randomized study designed to assess whether the provision of educational materials (EM) could improve compliance with aromatase inhibitor therapy in postmenopausal women with early, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Patients and Methods: The PACT study presented a large, homogeneous dataset. The baseline analysis included patient demographics and initial treatments and patient perceptions about treatment and quality of life. Results: Overall, 4,923 patients were enrolled at 109 German breast cancer centers/clinics in cooperation with 1,361 office-based gynecologists/oncologists. 4,844 women were randomized 1:1 to standard therapy (n = 2,402) or standard therapy plus EM (n = 2,442). Prior breast-conserving surgery and mastectomy had been received by 76% and 24% of the patients, respectively. Radiotherapy was scheduled for 85% of the patients, adjuvant chemotherapy for 38%. Reflecting the postmenopausal, hormone-sensitive nature of this population, only 285 patients (7%) had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusions: A comparison with epidemiological data from the West German Breast Center suggests that the patients in the PACT study are representative of a general postmenopausal early breast cancer population and that the findings may be applicable to 'real-world' Germany and beyond. Compliance data from PACT are eagerly anticipated. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]