NCI Community Cancer Center Program (NCCCP): Understanding why hormonal therapy for breast cancer was considered but not administered.

Abstract

74 Background: The National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) was designed to improve the quality of cancer care and reduce disparities at hospital-based community cancer centers. This study examined when guideline-concordant therapy was considered but not administered, who made the decision to not receive treatment. Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed and receiving all or part of their initial cancer treatment at one of 12 NCCCP sites was conducted. We examined patients who were guideline-concordant with the hormonal therapy (HT) for breast cancer quality measure, but for whom treatment was considered but not administered. We compared patients diagnosed in the pre-NCCCP period (2006 – 2007) and during the NCCCP period (2008-2013). Results: Overall, a low proportion of cases had HT considered but not administered (4% in pre-NCCCP period; 5% in NCCCP period – difference not significant). In the pre-NCCCP period, white patients were twice as likely as Black patients to have HT considered but not administered, while there were no racial differences during the NCCCP period. In both time periods, older patients and Medicare patients were more likely to have HT considered but not administered. The most common reason for considering but not administering HT was refusal by the patient or patient’s family and this more likely for White patients, patients in the middle age groups (50-59 and 60 to 69), and Medicare patients. The second most common reason was that the physician determined it to be contraindicated due to patient risk factors. This was more likely to be a reason for Black and Medicaid patients. Conclusions: Results show that a large proportion of cases that had treatment considered but not administered did not receive treatment because of patient/family refusal or it was contraindicated due to other patient risk factors, both before and during the NCCCP period. Additional studies could inform the long-term outcomes of patients with comorbid conditions who were considered for guideline-concordant treatment but did not receive it (but the data were not available for this study).