Reston, Virginia - December 11, 2017 - Community oncologists showed divergence in treatment approaches for the care of patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) compared with expert recommendations, particularly for patients with hormone receptor (HR)–positive/HER2-negative disease, according to an analysis of data captured with an online tool developed by Clinical Care Options (CCO) in collaboration with 5 experts in breast cancer. The analysis was presented by Timothy A. Quill, PhD, at the 40th San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas.
The emergence of novel therapeutic agents and the refinement of current treatment approaches for MBC has changed the care of these patients during the past couple of years. With different therapeutic options and new clinical evidence now available, CCO collaborated with Kimberly L. Blackwell, MD; Sara Hurvitz, MD, FACP; Kathy D. Miller, MD; Nicholas J. Robert, MD; and Mohammad Jahanzeb, MD, FACP, to develop an online tool that provides patient-specific guidance on treatment decisions for MBC.
Practice patterns of oncologists around the globe were captured with this tool from December 2016 through October 2017. The tool has revealed a considerable disparity between expert recommendations and those of the community oncologists in some MBC disease settings, such as de novo HR-positive/HER2-negative MBC and metastatic triple-negative breast cancer in visceral crisis, while showing general agreement between the two groups in other MBC disease settings, such as the treatment of HR-negative/HER2-positive MBC.
“The substantial divergence in opinion in the preferred choice of therapy for some HR-positive/HER2-negative MBC settings speaks to the fact that we have new evidence-based treatment options in terms of what we can prescribe now in these patients,” said Mohammad Jahanzeb, MD, FACP, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Deerfield Beach, Florida. “This is a wonderful advance for patients and their doctors. However, it can also challenge clinicians to offer the best care for their patients with MBC. The online tool provides updated expert recommendations based on recent clinical data to help educate clinicians on the optimal care of their patients.”
“CCO is proud to be part of this collaboration and pleased to share the findings of this study with the medical community at large,” said Tina Stacy, PharmD, BCOP, CHCP, Senior Vice President, Educational Strategy and General Manager, Oncology at CCO. “As part of our ongoing commitment to improving patient care, we strive to create innovative technology to assess and directly address any identified clinical practice challenges.”
The goal now is to continue to update this online tool as the treatment of patients with MBC evolves to provide a useful resource for healthcare providers and patients. The most recent version of this tool can be found at http://www.clinicaloptions.com/MBCtool.
Quill TA, Blackwell KL, Hurvitz S, Miller KD, Robert NJ, Obholz KL, Jahanzeb M. Variance between experts and community practitioners in treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Program and abstracts of the 40th San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; December 5-9, 2017; San Antonio, Texas. Abstract P5-16-02.
About Clinical Care Options
Clinical Care Options, LLC, is a global leader in the development of innovative educational programs and technology platforms. CCO’s team has been a pioneer in the creation of continuing education and decision support resources for healthcare professionals both in the United States and around the world for more than 2 decades. For more information, visit clinicaloptions.com.
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