Internet Use Among Women With Recurrent Metastatic Breast Cancer
Condition: Breast Cancer
MeSH terms: Breast Neoplasms
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      RATIONALE: Gathering information about patients with breast cancer over time may help doctors
      learn more about a patient's use of the internet to find information about treatment, symptom
      management, and emotional support.

      PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying internet use among women with recurrent metastatic
      breast cancer.
    

Detailed description: 
      OBJECTIVES:

        -  To document the proportion of women who use the internet to access treatment and symptom
           management information and to seek emotional support after diagnosis of metastatic
           recurrent breast cancer.

        -  To evaluate the association of treatment stage and effectiveness with internet use.

        -  To evaluate the association of individual differences in patients' demographics,
           beliefs, emotional functioning, and social and professional support with internet use.

        -  To evaluate the association of patients' use of the internet to seek resources with
           their beliefs, emotional functioning, and relationship functioning.

      OUTLINE: Patients undergo assessments consisting of paper and pencil questionnaires at four
      time points. The timing of these assessments is linked to the patient's treatment course and
      her presumed need to access internet resources for information on cancer, treatment, symptom
      management, and emotional support. Patients who discontinue regular care at the Cancer
      Institute of New Jersey site during the course of the study may complete study assessments
      through phone interviews conducted by a member of the study team.

      Patients undergo a baseline survey prior to deciding on a treatment course for their newly
      progressive disease. Patients complete the first part of the survey to provide information on
      demographics, beliefs about cancer, mood states, somatic symptoms, and available resources
      for cancer information and emotional support. Patients complete the second part of the
      survey, if they have used the internet previously to obtain information and resources about
      cancer or if they have received cancer information that someone else located on the internet
      for them, which inquires about patients' internet use, any internet resources they have
      received from family members, friends, or other people they know, and their own evaluation of
      these internet resources. Patients undergo the second study assessment after completion of
      the first course of treatment and prior to initiating course 2 (i.e., 3 to 4 weeks after
      initiating treatment). The third study assessment occurs within the first 2 weeks after the
      medical oncologist's first evaluation of treatment response (i.e., 6-9 weeks after initiating
      treatment). The fourth assessment occurs after the medical oncologist's second evaluation of
      the patient's response to treatment, following tumor re-staging.

      Patients complete several questionnaires during these assessments to provide information
      about personal characteristics (demographics, physical and psychological well-being, beliefs
      about cancer and treatment, optimism), social and healthcare networks (perceived social
      support, social network composition, beliefs about treatment team), and outcomes (use of
      non-internet cancer information, use of the internet for cancer resources, use of interactive
      technologies, communication with treatment team and family, evaluation of internet
      resources).

      The following information is extracted from the patients' medical record: stage and node
      status at primary diagnosis, previous oncology surgeries, previous adjuvant treatments,
      current menopausal status, treatment at time of recurrence, disease free interval, site(s) of
      metastasis, and response to current treatment.
    

Intervention name(s): medical chart review; questionnaire administration; survey administration; psychosocial assessment and care
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Other; Procedure
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: stage IV breast cancer; recurrent breast cancer