OBJECTIVE: To understand patient reported treatment satisfaction in young women receiving palbociclib in combination with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) or fulvestrant for the treatment of HR+/HER2- advanced/metastatic breast cancer (ABC/MBC).
METHODS: An observational cross-sectional web-based survey of patients with self-reported HR+/ HER2- ABC/ MBC was conducted in 6 countries (US, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, and Argentina). Respondents were ≥ 18 years old and had received palbociclib plus AI or fulvestrant for ≥ 2 months. The Cancer Therapy Satisfaction Questionnaire (CTSQ) was used to measure satisfaction. The CTSQ has three domains: expectations of therapy in preventing recurrence or progression or returning to normal life, feelings about side effects, and satisfaction with therapy. Each domain is scored from 0-100, with a higher score indicating better outcomes. We report here descriptive statistics in the sub-population of young women (age less than 50) from this study.
RESULTS: Out of a total sample of 604 patients, 525 were under the age of 50. Median age in this group was 40 years. Most patients were caucasian (81%) and were employed (54%). Visceral metastases was present in 46% of patients. Approximately 38% (n=197) of these patients had received palbociclib plus AI and the remaining patients received palbociclib + fulvestrant. The average (SD) expectations of therapy score overall was 72.0 (14.5). Most patients across all six countries (77%) “always” or “most of the time” felt their treatment would help them return to a normal life. The mean (SD) score for feelings about side effects was 44.3 (13.1) and the mean (SD) score for satisfaction with therapy was 71.2 (10.9). When asked about overall satisfaction with their treatment choice, 89% of patients felt that they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied”. There were 96% of patients who reported that the benefits of their palbociclib combination therapy met or exceeded their expectations and 94% would take their palbociclib combination therapy again.
CONCLUSIONS: Young women with HR+/ HER2- ABC/ MBC reported high satisfaction scores with palbociclib combination therapy in all six countries.
