Abstract PO4-01-11: Ovarian function suppression (OFS) use beyond five years?: Young breast cancer patient preferences
Authors: Dibble Kate , Sella Tal , Ruddy Kathryn , Snow Craig , Nixon Amanda , Spears Patricia , Ballman Karla , Carey Lisa , Partridge Ann 
Published: May 2024

Background. Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death in young women worldwide, and late recurrence of hormone receptor-positive disease plays a substantial role. Adjuvant endocrine therapy with 5 years of ovarian function suppression (OFS) and an aromatase inhibitor or tamoxifen is recommended for many young patients with high risk hormone receptor-positive BC. Data are limited regarding extended endocrine therapy among premenopausal BC survivors, and non-existent to inform treatment decisions regarding extending OFS beyond 5 years. We sought to evaluate young BC survivors’ perceptions and preferences regarding extending OFS beyond 5 years, and consideration of a potential future study to assess the role of extended OFS.

Methods. From January-April 2023, email invites were sent to the Young Survival Coalition (YSC) listserv (N=14,291) specifically asking members with a history of invasive BC (≤45 years at diagnosis; stage I-III without metastatic recurrence) receiving OFS injections for adjuvant endocrine treatment to complete a one-time anonymous online survey. The survey was designed to capture information regarding current endocrine therapy use, patient-provider communication regarding extended endocrine therapy including OFS, OFS-related concerns (rating 0-5 [low: 0-1, moderate: 2-3, severe: 4-5]), and interest in a potential future clinical trial utilizing OFS beyond 5 years. Descriptive statistics were utilized to summarize responses, and two-sided Fishers exact tests and chi-square analyses were used for comparisons.

Results. A total of 1,030 YSC members completed the survey, and 615 were analyzed due to eligibility and completeness of data. The majority were from the United States (n=579, 94.1%) or Canada (n=8, 1.3%), were non-Hispanic white (n=452, 73.5%), non-Hispanic Black (n=46, 7.5%), or Hispanic (n=43, 7.0%), and had been diagnosed with stage II BC (n=316, 51.4%). The average age at survey was 38.1 years (SD=5.15, range=22-54) and at initial BC diagnosis was 34.6 years (SD=4.96, range=20-49). Most (n=510, 83.0%) were within their first 5 years of OFS treatment while 14.5% (n=89) had already been receiving OFS for more than 5 years. Many respondents (n=344, 55.9%) reported discussing OFS use beyond 5 years with their provider, of whom 39.8% (n=245) reported their provider recommending they continue OFS for more than 5 years. Despite reporting moderate and severe concerns regarding OFS side effects (n=476, 77.4%), inconvenience of injection visits (n=272, 44.2%), and high cost of medication (n=223, 36.3%), most respondents (n=396, 64.4%) would consider continuing OFS beyond 5 years if it would reduce risk of BC recurrence. For nearly half of respondents (n=289, 47.0%) a risk reduction of at least 5% would be required for extended OFS to be worthwhile compared to the remaining 46.3% (n=285) who indicated interest for &lt; 5% risk reduction. When asked hypothetically if they would take part in a clinical trial to determine efficacy of OFS use beyond 5 years, the majority were interested (n=357, 58.0%). Respondents who were interested were less likely to be concerned about the high cost of medication (p=0.003) however they were also less likely to take OFS beyond 5 years if it only led to 1-2% BC risk reduction (p=0.006) compared to those who were not interested. There were no other proportional differences on any other outcome.

Conclusion. Many BC survivors and providers are already considering incorporation of OFS beyond 5 years into adjuvant endocrine therapy despite harboring concerns and lack of data. Efforts to determine the efficacy and benefits of extended OFS are necessary given the risk of late recurrence in this population as well as the potential for significant short- and long-term toxicities. The results from this survey study suggest that future clinical trials evaluating potential benefits and risks of long-term OFS use among young BC survivors are needed and likely feasible.

Citation Format: Kate Dibble, Tal Sella, Kathryn Ruddy, Craig Snow, Amanda Nixon, Patricia Spears, Karla Ballman, Lisa Carey, Ann Partridge. Ovarian function suppression (OFS) use beyond five years?: Young breast cancer patient preferences [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO4-01-11.