New Breast Cancer Research Reported from Tuebingen University Hospital (Influence of adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy in early breast cancer: Results from a large German real-world claims data analysis): Oncology – Breast Cancer

2023 JUN 15 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on breast cancer have been published. According to news reporting originating from Tuebingen, Germany, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “551: In hormone-receptor positive (HR+) early breast cancer (EBC) adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET) significantly reduces recurrence and mortality. The most common way to estimate therapy adherence is the use of patient reported outcome measures. Yet, this method is inaccurate due to the social-desirability bias.”

Funders for this research include Aok Baden-wuerttemberg.

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Tuebingen University Hospital: “We therefore aimed to analyze adherence to ET over the first 5 years of treatment by using claims data from a large German health insurance provider (AOK Baden-Wuerttemberg). Female patients diagnosed with HR+ EBC between July 1^st 2010 and December 31^st 2019 were included into the analysis. Adherence to ET was defined as the ratio of the summed number of pills of filled prescriptions for ET (either aromatase inhibitors or tamoxifen) and the duration of endocrine therapy in days (from the start of the first prescription after completion of surgery and chemotherapy, if applicable). ET administration was observed over 5 years. High/low adherence was defined as a ratio between 0.8 - 1 and 0 - 0.8, respectively. ET duration was divided into yearly intervals and adherence was calculated as above. Continuous high/low adherence was then defined as an adherence between 0.8 - 1 and 0 - 0.8 in each year. Distant recurrence-free survival (DRFS) was calculated from the day of the first diagnosis of EBC until onset of distant metastatic disease. Overall survival (OS) was defined as the period between first diagnosis of EBC until death. In total, 20998 patients were included. 17006 patients (81%) were HR+. Regarding overall adherence during the first 5 years, average adherence was 0.81 ± 0.26, with 72% of all HR+ patients showing high adherence to ET. Of 17006 HR+ EBC patients, 8363 (49%) showed a continuous high adherence to ET and 1731 (10%) showed a continuous low adherence to ET over 5 consecutive years. Continuous adherence to endocrine therapy had a significant impact on DRFS (HR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.52 - 0.71; p < 0.0001) and OS (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.46 -0.59; p < 0.0001). The 10-year OS rate was 79% / 64% for patients with continuous high / low adherence to endocrine therapy.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “As measured by the number of prescribed pills, adherence during the first 5 years of endocrine therapy was higher than expected by literature. Continuous adherence to ET over 5 years has a significant impact on OS and DRFS. Future research should focus on identifying factors that influence therapy adherence in HR+ EBC patients.”

For more information on this research see: Influence of adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy in early breast cancer: Results from a large German real-world claims data analysis. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2023,41(16_suppl). The publisher for Journal of Clinical Oncology is American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2023.41.16_suppl.551.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Dominik Dannehl, Department of Women’s Health, Tuebingen University Hospital, Tuebingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Additional authors for this research include Tobias Engler, Tjeerd Dijkstra, Raphael Gutsfeld, Alexandra von Au, Markus Hahn, Sabine Hawighorst-Knapstein, Ariane Chaudhuri, Markus Wallwiener, Armin Bauer, Sara Brucker, Stephanie Wallwiener, Andreas Daniel Hartkopf.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)