ABSTRACT
Aims: To assess non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient-centered outcomes in the real world. Methods: This is a prospective study of NSCLC patients treated at a private cancer care institution in Brazil between 2014 and 2019. Results: The report comprises 337 patients. Advanced stage was associated with higher symptom burden - fatigue (p = 0.03), pain (p < 0.001) and arm pain (p = 0.022) - and worse global, social and physical functioning (all p < 0.001). In the first 2 years, most factors evolved to either improvement or stability: cough (p = 0.02), pain (p = 0.002), global functioning (p < 0.001) and emotional functioning (p < 0.001). Staging (p < 0.001), fatigue (p = 0.001) and gender (p = 0.004) were independently associated with overall survival. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the feasibility of conducting real-world prospective analysis of patient-centered outcomes.
Lay abstract This study looked at patient-centered outcomes in lung cancer in a real-world setting. Standardized quality-of-life questionnaires were used to actively measure patients' perception of their functional well-being and health in a clinical setting. Three hundred thirty-seven patients were enrolled in a private cancer center in Brazil between 2014 and 2019. We demonstrated that patients diagnosed at advanced stages presented with more symptoms and lower capacity to perform daily activities. However, symptoms and functioning tended to improve during treatment. Our results show that it is possible to put patients at the heart of cancer care and use their experience to guide clinical approach.
Subject(s)
Cancer Pain/epidemiology , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/therapy , Fatigue/epidemiology , Lung Neoplasms/therapy , Patient Reported Outcome Measures , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Brazil/epidemiology , Cancer Pain/etiology , Cancer Pain/psychology , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/complications , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/diagnosis , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/mortality , Cost of Illness , Fatigue/etiology , Fatigue/psychology , Female , Humans , Kaplan-Meier Estimate , Lung Neoplasms/complications , Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis , Lung Neoplasms/mortality , Male , Middle Aged , Prospective Studies , Quality of Life , Risk Factors , Sex Factors , Surveys and Questionnaires/statistics & numerical data , Young AdultABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Middle-income countries like Brazil often have a dichotomous health care system in which patients may be treated in either public or private institutions that differ substantially in terms of level of access to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective, observational study to assess real-world data in 1,230 female patients with breast cancer who were treated in a private health care institution between 2012 and 2016 in Brazil. RESULTS: Breast cancer in these patients mostly was diagnosed at early (79.0% stages I or II) or locally advanced (16.1% stage III) stages. The primary tumor was resected in 89.0% of cases, most often through breast-conserving surgery (55.1%). Patients with locally advanced disease received more aggressive therapy (eg, higher rates of mastectomy, axillary dissection and chemotherapy use) than patients with early-stage disease. The estimated 2-year overall survival (OS) was 95.3%. Survival was significantly longer among patients with stage I or II disease (2-year OS, 97.9% and 97.5%, respectively) than those with stage III or IV disease (89.4% and 69.5%, respectively; P < .01). Tumor grade was also correlated with OS in the overall cohort ( P = .05); triple-negative status was only prognostic for patients with stage III disease ( P < .01). CONCLUSION: The data provided aid understanding of the current scenario of breast cancer presentation and treatment in the Brazilian private health care system and may serve as a foundation to guide resource allocation. Our results reinforce the need to pursue adequate access to cancer care in low- and middle-income countries to optimize patient outcome.
