Adherence and Discontinuation of Endocrine Therapy among Egyptian Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Adjuvant Treatment: A Cross-sectional Study | ||||
| SECI Oncology Journal | ||||
| Article 1, Volume 10, Issue 1, January 2022, Page 1-7 | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/secioj.2021.215433 | ||||
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| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Numerous studies have proven the survival benefit attained with the use of adjuvant hormonal therapy in breast cancer (BC) patients with hormone receptor-positive disease yet a percentage of women fail to comply with this effective therapy. Objectives: We investigated the rate of adherence and discontinuation among Egyptian women with BC who were prescribed adjuvant oral hormonal therapy. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was performed at two Egyptian centers and recruited women with hormonal receptor-positive BC who received at least one adjuvant oral hormonal therapy prescription within 12 months from diagnosis. Results: A total of 229 patients were included with a mean age of 54.2 ±11.1 years and 55.9% were from a governmental University hospital. Patients had at least a university degree in 59.4% of the cases. Less than half of the patients had stage II (45.4%) BC and 71.2% had received adjuvant chemotherapy. The most commonly prescribed hormonal therapy was aromatase inhibitors (48.5%). Ovarian function suppression was used in 15.3% of our cohort. Governmental funding (77.7%) was the main provider. A discontinuation of 10.9% and an adherence of 64.2% to adjuvant hormonal agents were recorded. Bothersome adverse events were the main reason for discontinuation (92%), whilst forgetfulness (30%), toxicity (17.5%) and COVID-19infection (12.5%) were listed as the main causes of non-adherence by the participants in the study. Conclusion: Egyptian breast cancer patients displayed adherence and discontinuation rates similar to those reported worldwide. Future interventional strategies are encouraged to improve endocrinal therapy adherence and correlate it to outcome. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Breast Cancer; Hormonal Therapy; Adherence; Compliance; Discontinuation | ||||
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