Abstract P4-19-06: Return to work after breast cancer diagnosis: An observational prospective study of 125 patients in South America
Authors: Landeiro LG , Fraile NMP , Fede AB , Fonseca LG , Testa L , Petry V , Gonçalves MS , Costa RDP , Cohn DB , Ferrari MM , Sunahara RS , de Gouveia ACC , Mano MS 
Published: March 2017

Background:Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. While its incidence has been increasing, recurrence and mortality rates have been decreasing. Because of that, cancer can now be regarded as a transient shock that does not prevent the survivors to live normal lives, including returning to their workplace. From a social perspective, long periods of sick leave have a strong economic impact. From the patient perspective, prolonged sick leave can cause financial difficulties and emotional distress. In United States and Europe, RTW rates vary among breast cancer patients from 24-66% after 6 months and 53-82% after 36 months of diagnosis. Factors associated with the decision to return to work are: age, chemotherapy, sequelae related to cancer therapy and support from the employer and coworkers. However, these findings vary among the different populations studied, suggesting that other factors may also interfere with the decision to return to work. Data on RTW after breast cancer diagnosis is not avaliable in South America nor in developing countries – where the workforce tends to be relatively younger than average. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate RTW rates on months 12 and 24 after breast cancer diagnosis, and to evaluate factors associated with the decision to return to work.

Methods: Prospective, observational study evaluating RTW rates in patients diagnosed with breast cancer, &gt; 18 and &lt;57 years old (in Brazil women can retire at age 60) and under remunerated work for at least 03 months at the time of diagnosis. Patients with metastatic disease were excluded. Based on previously data, we estimated that 125 patients would be required to achieve the primary endpoint. Each patient was followed for 02 years. On months 6, 12 and 24 they answered a telephone interview and the FACT-B questionnaire. Disease characteristics and treatment were collected from electronic medical records. After completion of all third row of interviews (by september, 2016) we will perform univariate and multivariate analysis by logistic regression method to determine the independent predictors of return to work.

Results: Between july, 2012 and september, 2014, 125 patients were enrolled. The median age was 45.1 (range 25-57). Half of the patients (52.9%) were married at the time of diagnosis, and 96.9% received support from their life partner. Most of them reported that they liked their job (93.8%) and received support from their employer (61.5%), but only 29.1% reported adjustment offering, so that they could keep working during treatment. Almost half of patients (47.6%) had stage II disease, 75.4% and 19.7% were HR and Her 2 positive, respectively, and 92.6% received chemotherapy as part of their treatment. Overall, 22.1% and 28.8% of patients returned to work, at 6 and 12 months after breast cancer diagnosis, respectively.

Conclusion: Twelve months after breast cancer diagnosis, less than 30% of the patients had returned to work. By september, 2016, we will have completed the “24 month” interviews and will present RTW rates at that time and also correlative analyses of factors that affected the RTW in this population.

Citation Format: Landeiro LG, Fraile NMP, Fede AB, Fonseca LG, Testa L, Petry V, Gonçalves MS, Costa RDP, Cohn DB, Ferrari MM, Sunahara RS, de Gouveia ACC, Mano MS. Return to work after breast cancer diagnosis: An observational prospective study of 125 patients in South America [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-19-06.