Abstract P6-12-14: Quality of life and ability to work in patients at different disease stages of HER2+ breast cancer
Authors: Verrill M , Wardley A , Retzler J , Smith AB , McNicol D , Dando S , Tran I , Leslie I , Schmid P 
Published: February 2018

OBJECTIVES: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and ability to work in patients treated for HER2+ early breast cancer (EBC) are poorly understood. This study compared HRQoL and ability to work in 3 HER2+ patient cohorts: EBC during adjuvant treatment, EBC after treatment, and metastatic disease (MBC).

METHODS: A cross-sectional observational cohort study of 299 female consenting patients with HER2+BC, from 14 UK secondary care centres. Group1 (n=89): receiving targeted HER2 therapy±chemotherapy for EBC; Group2 (n=108): in follow up post-targeted treatment for eBC; Group3 (n=102): MBC on treatment. Data collected between Dec 2016-Mar 2017: HRQoL, demographic and employment status data collected via patient-reported questionnaires (including EQ-5D-5L and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy [FACT-B]); clinical data collected from medical records. Inter-group differences were assessed using univariate Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square tests as appropriate. [NCT03099200].

RESULTS: Table1 shows patient demographics, disease characteristics, employment status, and EQ-5D-5L scores. Group1 and Group2 patients did not differ in overall health utility or visual analogue scale (VAS) scores. However, Group3 patients reported significantly poorer health utility than Group1 (p&lt;0.02) and Group2 (p&lt;0.001), and significantly worse VAS scores than Group2 (p&lt;0.001). Significantly fewer Group2 patients and more Group3 patients were unable to work (p&lt;0.003), and fewer Group3 patients were employed than expected (by chi-square, p&lt;0.003).

CONCLUSIONS: HRQoL in patients with EBC was similar whether on or off treatment, and better than those with MBC. HRQoL scores reported on the generic EQ-5D will be compared with those from the disease-specific FACT-B. A smaller proportion of patients with MBC were employed compared to the EBC groups, reflecting the impact of advanced disease. Fewer patients with EBC reported being unable to work than we expected, suggesting these patients maintain function.

Table1

 Group1 (n=89)Group2 (n=108)Group3 (n=102)Age (years)↑55 (11)58 (11)55 (11)Hormone receptor status¥Positive64 (72%)84 (78%)74 (73%)Negative25 (28%)24 (22%)26 (26%)Unknown0 (0%)0 (0%)2 (2%)Time since diagnosis (months)+EBC9 (6)45 (32) (n=103)80 (82) (n=71*)MBC--39 (36) (n=101)Employment status¥Employed45 (51%)55 (51%)28 (28%)§Not employed41 (46%)52 (48%)69 (68%)Retired22 (25%)39 (36%)33 (32%)Unable to work7 (8%)5 (5%)§27 (27%)§Other12 (14%)8 (7%)9 (9%)Unknown3 (3%)1 (1%)5 (5%)EQ-5D summary scoresVisual analogue scale72.7 (18.4)†77.0 (17.5)†65.8 (22.9)† (n=99)Utility value0.809 (0.170)† (n=86)0.818 (0.181)†0.695 (0.262)† (n=97)↑mean (standard deviation); ¥n (%); +median (interquartile range); *excludes 27/102 patients (27%) with de novo MBC. Bold text: observed differences between three groups at significance thresholds of ‡p&lt;0.05, §p&lt;0.003 or †p&lt;0.001. EBC/MBC: early/metastatic breast cancer. %s have been rounded so may not total 100%

Citation Format: Verrill M, Wardley A, Retzler J, Smith AB, McNicol D, Dando S, Tran I, Leslie I, Schmid P. Quality of life and ability to work in patients at different disease stages of HER2+ breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-12-14.