Jennifer L. Stevens

Adjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer: Practice Patterns of Community Physicians

PURPOSE We evaluated the use of adjuvant therapy for breast cancer using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Conference statements as guideposts for assessing how rapidly community physicians adopt recommended therapies. PATIENTS AND METHODS Women with stage I through IIIA breast cancer diagnosed in 1987 through 1991 and in 1995 were randomly sampled from the population-based National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results program. A total of 8,106 women were included in the study with younger women, < or = 50 years, being oversampled. Their treating physicians were asked to verify whether chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or both were given. RESULTS After adjusting for clinical and nonclinical factors, the use of 1985 recommendations for adjuvant therapy in women with node-positive disease was already high at 80% in 1987 and increased slightly to 84% by 1995. Use of combined multidrug chemotherapy plus tamoxifen increased. In contrast, the use of 1990 recommendations for adjuvant therapy for node-negative disease was slightly less than 13% in 1987 and increased markedly to 57% by 1995. For women with node-negative tumors > or = 1 cm in size diagnosed in 1995, 40% received tamoxifen, 16% combination chemotherapy, and 7% both, an increase from 10%, 5%, and 0.4%, respectively, in 1987. CONCLUSION Community physicians began prescribing adjuvant chemotherapy and hormonal therapy in advance of publication of the NIH consensus statement in 1990. Adoption of recommended treatments for node-negative disease has been less complete compared with node-positive tumors, perhaps reflecting the more complex nature of the clinical trials data or the smaller anticipated benefit from adjuvant therapy for this disease subset.

Insurance Status and the Use of Guideline Therapy in the Treatment of Selected Cancers

PURPOSE This study estimates the impact of type of insurance coverage on the receipt of guideline therapy in a population-based sample of cancer patients treated in the community. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients (n = 7,134) from the National Cancer Institutes Patterns of Care studies who were newly diagnosed with 11 different types of cancer were analyzed. The definition of guideline therapy was based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network treatment recommendations. Insurance status was categorized as a mutually exclusive hierarchical variable (no insurance, any private insurance, any Medicaid, Medicare only, and all other). Multivariate analyses were used to examine the association between insurance and receipt of guideline therapy. RESULTS Adjusting for clinical and nonclinical variables, insurance status was a modest, although statistically significant, determinant of receipt of guideline therapy, with 65% of the privately insured patients receiving recommended therapy compared with 60% of patients with Medicaid. Seventy percent of the uninsured patients received guideline therapy, which was nonsignificantly different compared with private insurance. When stratified by race, insurance was a statistically significant predictor of the receipt of guideline therapy only for non-Hispanic blacks. CONCLUSION Overall, levels of guideline treatment were lower than expected and particularly low for patients with Medicaid or Medicare only. The use of guideline therapy for ovarian and cervical cancer patients and for patients with rectal cancers was unrelated to type of insurance. Of particular concern is the significantly lower use of guideline therapy for non-Hispanic black patients with Medicaid. After adjusting for other factors, only half of these patients received guideline therapy.

Patterns of Care for Adjuvant Therapy in a Random Population-Based Sample of Patients Diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer

OBJECTIVES:Over the past decade, clinical trials have proved the efficacy of treatments for colorectal cancer (CRC). This study tracks dissemination of these treatments for patients diagnosed with stage II and III disease and compares risk of death for those who received guideline therapy to those who did not.METHODS:We conducted a stratified randomly sampled, population-based study of CRC treatment trends in the United States. Multivariate models were used to explore patient characteristics associated with receipt of treatments. We pooled data with a previous study—patients diagnosed in 1987–1991 and 1995. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess observed cause-specific and all-cause mortality.RESULTS:In 2000, guideline therapy receipt decreased among stage III rectal cancer patients, but increased for stage III colon and stage II rectal cancer patients. As age increased, likelihood of receiving guideline treatment decreased (p < 0.0001). Overall, race/ethnicity was significantly associated with guideline therapy (p = 0.04). Rectal patients were less likely to have received guideline treatment. Consistent with randomized clinical trial findings, all-cause mortality was lower in patients who received guideline therapy, regardless of Charlson comorbidity score.CONCLUSIONS:Mortality was decreased in patients receiving guideline therapy. Although, rates of guideline-concordant therapy are low in community clinical practice, they are apparently increasing. Newer treatment (oxaliplatin, capecitabine) started to disseminate in 2000. Racial disparities, present in 1995, were not detected in 2000. Age disparities remain despite no evidence of greater chemotherapy-induced toxicity in the elderly. More equitable receipt of cancer treatment to all segments of the community will help to reduce mortality.

Clinical Trial Participation and Time to Treatment Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer: Does Age at Diagnosis or Insurance Make a Difference?

PURPOSE Because adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer have experienced variable improvement in survival over the past two decades, enhancing the quality and timeliness of cancer care in this population has emerged as a priority area. To identify current trends in AYA care, we examined patterns of clinical trial participation, time to treatment, and provider characteristics in a population-based sample of AYA patients with cancer. METHODS Using the National Cancer Institute Patterns of Care Study, we used multivariate logistic regression to evaluate demographic and provider characteristics associated with clinical trial enrollment and time to treatment among 1,358 AYA patients with cancer (age 15 to 39 years) identified through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. RESULTS In our study, 14% of patients age 15 to 39 years had enrolled onto a clinical trial; participation varied by type of cancer, with the highest participation in those diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (37%) and sarcoma (32%). Multivariate analyses demonstrated that uninsured, older patients and those treated by nonpediatric oncologists were less likely to enroll onto clinical trials. Median time from pathologic confirmation to first treatment was 3 days, but this varied by race/ethnicity and cancer site. In multivariate analyses, advanced cancer stage and outpatient treatment alone were associated with longer time from pathologic confirmation to treatment. CONCLUSION Our study identified factors associated with low clinical trial participation in AYA patients with cancer. These findings support the continued need to improve access to clinical trials and innovative treatments for this population, which may ultimately translate into improved survival.

Community-Based Use of Chemotherapy and Hormonal Therapy for Early-Stage Breast Cancer: 1987-2000

PURPOSE We describe trends in the use of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy by nodal and estrogen receptor (ER) status in women with early-stage breast cancer. METHODS Cases were randomly sampled from the population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program and physician verified treatment was examined. A total of 9,481 women, aged 20 years and older, diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in 1987 to 1991, 1995, and 2000 were included in the study. RESULTS The use of chemotherapy plus tamoxifen increased between 1995 and 2000 for women with node-negative, ER-positive breast cancer > or = 1 cm (8% to 21%). Nearly 23% of women with node-negative and ER-positive tumors > or = 1 cm received no adjuvant therapy. The use of chemotherapy alone increased to nearly 60% in women with node-negative, ER-negative tumors > or = 1 cm (48% to 59%). However, in 2000, 16% of women with node-positive and ER-negative tumors received no adjuvant therapy and an additional 6% received tamoxifen alone. The influence of age can clearly be seen. Chemotherapy is given much less often in women 70 years or older. CONCLUSION The results from SEER areas across the United States suggest that physicians quickly responded to publications and guidelines regarding breast cancer therapy. The lack of definitive findings from clinical trials on the use of adjuvant therapy in women 70 years and older may explain the lower use in this group of women.

Multiple Myeloma Treatment Transformed: A Population-Based Study of Changes in Initial Management Approaches in the United States

PURPOSE Despite improved outcomes for multiple myeloma, little is known about changes in initial treatment at the population level for US patients. We report trends in treatment practices. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients (n = 1,976) with newly diagnosed myeloma in 1999, 2003, and 2007 were examined by using the National Cancer Institutes Patterns of Care Studies. We assessed use of common chemotherapies (melphalan, vincristine, and doxorubicin), novel agents (thalidomide, bortezomib, or lenalidomide), or hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) during the first year after diagnosis. By using logistic regression, we evaluated the association of race and insurance status with receipt of high-cost treatments--transplantation or novel agents. RESULTS From 1999 to 2007, use of melphalan alone dropped from 32.0% to 4.1%, and vincristine and doxorubicin use declined from 18.2% to 0.4%. The percentage of patients receiving any novel agent rose from 3.9% in 1999 to 75.5% in 2007. HSCT increased from 11.1% in 1999 to 21.7% in 2007. For white patients, use of novel agents was lower for those with Medicare only (42.6%) than for those with private insurance (50.2%). For patients of other races, those with Medicare only or Medicaid were less likely to receive novel agents or transplantation compared with those with private insurance. CONCLUSION Initial treatment for multiple myeloma has changed markedly. Most patients now receive novel agents, with a decline in the use of traditional chemotherapy. Use of transplantation and novel agents varies with race and insurance. These findings document rapid changes in patterns of care and highlight addressable disparities in myeloma care.

A population‐based study of therapy and survival for patients with head and neck cancer treated in the community

The objective of this study was to examine patterns of care and survival in a population‐based sample of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) who were treated in the community or in hospitals that had residency training programs.

Ductal carcinoma in situ: trends in treatment over time in the US

To describe therapy and changes in therapy over time for women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and treated in the community setting. Women aged 20 or older diagnosed with DCIS in this study were sampled from the population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program. A total of 770, 1055, 480, and 404 women with DCIS were selected in 1991, 1995, 2000, or 2005, respectively. Most women do not have nodal sampling, but between 2000 and 2005 there was an increase in the use of sentinel node biopsy, 9 and 22%, respectively. Of the DCIS patients, 80% had no or unknown HER-2 assays, 12% were postitive, 7% negative, and 1% equivocal. After adjusting for tumor size, age, race, marital status, and insurance there has been a decrease in mastectomy since 1991. Of women with DCIS 36% were given tamoxifen in 2000; in 2005 this decreased to about 21%. However, in 2005 we see the use of aromatase inhibitors in nearly 4% of patients. HER-2 testing is increasingly performed for women with DCIS. Despite positive HER-2 tests no women received trastuzumab as of 2005. Despite the lack of clinical trials evidence, aromatase inhibitors are being prescribed for women with DCIS.

Age Disparity in the Dissemination of Imatinib for Treating Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

BACKGROUND Imatinib is a highly effective treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2001 and thereafter rapidly became front-line therapy. This study characterized the prevailing chronic myeloid leukemia therapies in the United States and assessed the impact of imatinib on chronic myeloid leukemia survival and mortality rates in the general population. METHODS Investigators with the National Cancer Institutes Patterns of Care study reviewed medical records and queried physicians regarding therapy for 423 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia diagnosed in 2003 who were randomly selected from cancer registries in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. Characteristics associated with the receipt of imatinib were documented, as were survival differences between those who received imatinib and those who did not. Population-based data were used to assess chronic myeloid leukemia survival and mortality rates in time periods before and after the introduction of imatinib. RESULTS Imatinib was administered to 76% of patients in the Patterns of Care study. Imatinib use was inversely associated with age: 90%, 75%, and 46% for patients ages 20 to 59 years, 60 to 79 years, and 80 or more years, respectively. Elderly patients who received imatinib survived significantly longer than those who did not. After adjusting for age, imatinib use did not vary significantly by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, urban/rural residence, presence of comorbid conditions, or insurance status. Overall, chronic myeloid leukemia survival in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results population improved, and mortality in the United States declined dramatically during the period when imatinib became widely available; these improvements diminished with increasing age. CONCLUSION Age disparities in treatment with imatinib likely contributed to worse survival for many elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Breast cancer in men in the United States

Breast cancer in men is rare, so clinical trials are not practical. Recommendations suggest treating men who are diagnosed with breast cancer using the guidelines for postmenopausal women; however, to date, no population‐based studies have evaluated patterns of care.