Breast Cancer Decision-Making Tool Uses Data Insights

University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers are gathering data insights to create a decision-making tool for women who receive a breast cancer diagnosis.

In 2019, assistant professor of surgical oncology Sarah Tevis, MD, and her team began gathering data by surveying women diagnosed with breast cancer to better understand the quality of life outcomes. The study showcases data gathered from 3- and 6-month reported outcomes from patients who had lumpectomies and mastectomies.

According to Tevis, the study’s primary goal is the development of a decision-making tool to assist women newly diagnosed with breast cancer in understanding the possible long-term impacts after diagnosis.

“We’re hoping to collate a large group of patient data to get a sense of what the average patient experiences three months, six months, a year after treatment. It gives us a foundation of data to be able to tell patients, ‘Here’s what other people in situations similar to yours have experienced,’” Tevis said in a press release.

“We’ve been really good about telling patients what to expect short-term, maybe in that first month after surgery, but beyond that haven’t been able to give them good, data-based information, how they might feel one year after surgery or even more long-term.”

The research team began collecting data by asking patients who received a breast cancer diagnosis to complete the BREAST-Q survey, a validated survey tool measuring the quality of life outcomes.

The survey asked women who have undergone or were currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer to quantify their experiences in areas, including psychosocial well-being, physical well-being, and sexual well-being. The researchers then compared the data of patients who had lumpectomies and mastectomies at pre-operative baseline and three months and six months post-operatively.

According to Tevis, those who underwent lumpectomies reported greater breast satisfaction, psychosocial well-being, and sexual well-being over time than those who underwent mastectomies. However, both groups reported decreased physical well-being over the short term.

One of the significant findings from the study was that even pre-operatively, sexual health registered lowest among the areas of well-being, Tevis said. The research team followed up on these findings by asking 80 women to complete a sexual health symptoms survey.

“We felt that if women are already starting off with low scores in this area, treatment is only going to make it worse,” Tevis said.

Researchers decided to collaborate with Catch it in Time, an arts-focused nonprofit dedicated to the early detection of cancer. The partnership’s goal is to create a series of videos focusing on women undergoing breast cancer treatment. The videos will also include providers and experts who can offer mitigation strategies and resources for women experiencing symptoms.

“We want to normalize the symptoms that women are having, so I think having patients in the videos is going to be really impactful,” Tevis explained. “They’re sharing their experiences and offering up suggestions for things women can try if they’re having certain symptoms, giving them an idea of when they should reach out for more support and more resources.”

According to Tevis, the data gathered from patient-reported outcomes is a critical step in the ongoing research process to create a more specific, long-term decision aid for people diagnosed with breast cancer. The next step for researchers is to report data from outcomes at one year and examine different social determinants of health.

“I think developing this decision aid has the potential to help patients make really well-informed decisions and get a better sense of what they might expect short- and long-term after treatment. We want to help them better understand how they might feel after surgery and to have the resources they need,” Tevis said.

“Continuing this research and these projects, we’re working to provide more supportive services for patients. We’re still in the early stages of developing a decision aid, but with these data we can look at all these different areas and figure out where we can provide more supportive services.”