Abstract P6-12-02: An innovative approach to breast cancer patient engagement through frontline data capture and management using a mobile application for cancer diagnosis, test, and treatment at a non-profit tertiary cancer center in India
Authors: Gupta Rishi , Mahatma Rohit , Sonawane Nayan , Mahatma Shilpa , Kumar Tarun , Alford Sharon Hensley 
Published: March 2020

Background: In India, most patients maintain a personal copy of their medical record in paper form which is hard to manage and collate. Newly diagnosed cancer patients and their doctors have an insurmountable task of consuming and using that information let alone centralizing the diagnosis, testing, and treatment information throughout the cancer care journey. Making this information available in an easy to consume format as well as recording a patient’s cancer experience is a technical challenge. We piloted an innovative mobile application to address this pain point for medical teams, patients and caregivers.

Method: Pilot engagement was performed with 100+ patients of which 30 were female breast cancer patients seen for active treatment in 2019 at a non-profit oncology center in the suburb of New Delhi, India. Systematic medical information was captured on stage, TNM, hormone receptors, HER2 status, tumor size, tests, and treatments. We assessed the utility of the mobile application for the purpose of comprehensive cancer information management and ease of use by medical team, patient and their caregivers.

Results: Data for a total of 30 female patients was captured. Patients were between the ages of 23 and 68, mean age 46. Of these patients, the cases were primarily late stage (III and IV) invasive ductal carcinoma. 26% of the women were Stage IV, 20% were Stage III, 26% were Stage II and 26% had not finished staging work-ups. One woman had inflammatory breast cancer and one woman was BRCA positive. Of the cases, 47% were HR+/HER2- cases, 20% were triple negative, and 13% of cases were HR+/HER2+. 20% had not yet received final pathologic assessment. The chemotherapy treatments included were doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, carboplatin, paclitaxel, adriamycin, and epirubicin. Some of the women also were given radiotherapy. Clinic staff reported that the application was easy to use and helpful. We continue to enhance the application with staff feedback.

Conclusion: We demonstrate feasibility and value of moving to a next generation digitized mobile platform circumventing the need for a traditional EMR system at a busy oncology clinic within a non-profit medical center in the suburb of New Delhi, India. Using the pilot, we make a case that this type of technology has the ability to transform cancer care for rural and low-resource health centers that are practicing on the frontlines of cancer care. We also demonstrate that it is easy to capture rich patient longitudinal data using this innovative platform.

Citation Format: Rishi Gupta, Rohit Mahatma, Nayan Sonawane, Shilpa Mahatma, Tarun Kumar, Sharon Hensley Alford. An innovative approach to breast cancer patient engagement through frontline data capture and management using a mobile application for cancer diagnosis, test, and treatment at a non-profit tertiary cancer center in India [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-12-02.