Patient advocate-led survey of side effects of real-world treatments for metastatic breast cancer

The advent of novel treatments such as targeted therapies and immunotherapies resulted in longer survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC). However, the disease remains incurable, and most patients will undergo therapy indefinitely. The Patient-Centered Dosing Initiative, a consortium of patient advocates and medical oncologists, developed a survey on prevalence and severity of side-effects of real-world treatments for mBC. Among the responders, 86.1% reported ata least one significant treatment-related side effects, and of these, 20.3% visited the emergency room/hospital and 43.2% missed at least one treatment. Among the patients informing their physicin and given a dose reduction for side-effect mitigation, 82.6% reported relief. A majority of patients (53.6%) reported not to believe that a higher dose is always more effective than a lower dose. The authors conclude that innovative dosage-related strategies are warranted to sustain and improve patients’ well-being.