Chemotherapy refusal and subsequent survival in older women with high genomic risk, estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer.

Authors

null

McKenzie White

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

McKenzie White , Saranya Prathibha , Corinne Praska , Madison Kolbow , Jacob Ankeny , Christopher James LaRocca , Eric Hans Jensen , Todd M. Tuttle , Schelomo Marmor , Jane Yuet Ching Hui

Organizations

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, University of Minnesota Department of Surgery, Minneapolis, MN, University of Minnesota Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, University of Minnesota, Department of Surgery, Minneapolis, MN, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN

Research Funding

No funding received

Background: Patients with estrogen receptor (ER)- positive breast cancer and high-risk 21-gene recurrence score (RS) assay results benefit from chemotherapy, however some patients choose to decline chemotherapy. We evaluated factors associated with chemotherapy refusal by older women with high RS breast cancer and investigated the association of chemotherapy refusal with mortality. Methods: We used the National Cancer Database (2010-2017) to retrospectively identify women aged ≥65 years with ER-positive, HER2-negative, high RS (≥26) breast cancer. Women with Charlson Comorbidity Index ≥1, stage III or IV disease, or any unknown variables were excluded. Women with high RS who refused chemotherapy were compared to women with high RS who received chemotherapy. Refusal trends were analyzed using the Cochrane Armitage test. Factors associated with chemotherapy refusal were evaluated with a multivariable regression model. Overall survival (OS) by age and by treatment were evaluated with Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards modeling. Results: 6827 women met study criteria; 5449 (80%) received chemotherapy and 1378 (20%) refused. Relative to those who received chemotherapy, those who refused chemotherapy were older (median age 71 vs 69 years; p < 0.05), more often insured with Medicare (83% vs 80%; p = 0.05), were diagnosed more recently (2014-2017 vs 2010-2013, 67% vs 61%; p < 0.05), had lower grade tumors (grade 1 or 2 vs grade 3, 57% vs 48%; p < 0.05), more frequently had progesterone receptor-positive tumors (68% vs 63%; p < 0.05), and received radiation less frequently (67% vs 71%; p < 0.05). Chemotherapy refusal was significantly associated with increasing age (age 75-79 vs 65-74 OR 1.61, CI 1.4-1.85; age ≥80 vs 65-74 OR 3.24, CI 2.76-3.79) and more recent year of diagnosis (2014-2017 vs 2010-2013; OR 1.3 CI 1.14-1.48). Chemotherapy refusal was significantly associated with decreased 5-year OS for patients aged 65-74 years (92% vs 95%; p < 0.05) and patients aged 75-79 years (85% vs 92%; p < 0.05), but not for those aged ≥80 years (84% vs 91%; p = 0.07). Overall, when controlling for patient factors, hazard of death with chemotherapy refusal was significantly increased (HR 1.12, CI 1.04-1.2), but was not increased for women aged ≥80 years when stratified by age. Conclusions: Among healthy women aged ≥65 with high genomic risk ER-positive breast cancer, chemotherapy refusal increased with increasing age. Chemotherapy refusal was significantly associated with decreased OS in women aged 65-79, but did not impact OS in women aged ≥80. Lower use of chemotherapy in women ≥80 may demonstrate pragmatic decision-making between physicians and patients. Furthermore, the routine use of genomic assays may not be appropriate in this age group. More research is needed to determine why women aged 65-79 refuse chemotherapy, and whether patients remain satisfied with these choices.

Disclaimer

This material on this page is ©2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology, all rights reserved. Licensing available upon request. For more information, please contact licensing@asco.org

Abstract Details

Meeting

2022 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Breast Cancer—Local/Regional/Adjuvant

Track

Breast Cancer

Sub Track

Adjuvant Therapy

Citation

J Clin Oncol 40, 2022 (suppl 16; abstr 520)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2022.40.16_suppl.520

Abstract #

520

Poster Bd #

292

Abstract Disclosures