Patients' perceptions of 70-gene signature testing: commonly changing the initial inclination to undergo or forego chemotherapy and reducing decisional conflict.

Julia E C van Steenhoven, Bianca M den Dekker, Anne Kuijer, Paul J van Diest, Peter Nieboer, Johanna M Zuetenhorst, Alex L Th Imholz, Sabine Siesling, Thijs van Dalen

Breast cancer research and treatment 2020 Jul

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Little is known about the impact of 70-gene signature (70-GS) use on patients' chemotherapy decision-making. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of 70-GS use on patients' decisions to undergo chemotherapy. The perceived decision conflict during decision-making was a secondary objective of the study. Patients operated for estrogen receptor positive early breast cancer were asked to fill out a questionnaire probing their inclination to undergo chemotherapy before deployment of the 70-GS test. After disclosure of the 70-GS result patients were asked about their decision regarding chemotherapy. Patients' decisional conflict was measured using the 16-item decisional conflict scale (DCS); scores < 25 are associated with a persuaded decision while a score > 37.5 implies that one feels unsure about a choice. Between January 1th 2017 and December 31th 2018, 106 patients completed both questionnaires. Before deployment of the 70-GS, 58% of patients (n = 62) formulated a clear treatment preference, of whom 21 patients (34%) changed their opinion on treatment with chemotherapy following the 70-GS. The final decision regarding chemotherapy was in line with the 70-GS result in 90% of patients. The percentage of patients who felt unsure about their preference to be treated with chemotherapy decreased from 42 to 5% after disclosure of the 70-GS. The mean total DCS significantly decreased from pre-test to post-test from 35 to 23, irrespective of the risk estimate (p < 0.001). Deployment of the 70-GS changed patients' inclination to undergo adjuvant chemotherapy in one third of patients and decreased patients' decisional conflict.

Citation

Julia E C van Steenhoven, Bianca M den Dekker, Anne Kuijer, Paul J van Diest, Peter Nieboer, Johanna M Zuetenhorst, Alex L Th Imholz, Sabine Siesling, Thijs van Dalen. Patients' perceptions of 70-gene signature testing: commonly changing the initial inclination to undergo or forego chemotherapy and reducing decisional conflict. Breast cancer research and treatment. 2020 Jul;182(1):107-115