Fatigue and poor physical functioning before starting treatment for early breast cancer were independently associated with chemotherapy dose reductions and post-chemotherapy toxicities, a new analysis found.
Baseline quality-of-life measures, most often fatigue and physical functioning, have “been associated with survival in various cancers,” the authors explain. These latest findings signal that assessing fatigue and physical functioning prior to treatment “could help to identify patients who are at risk for poor chemotherapy tolerability.”
The findings were published online earlier this month in the journal Cancer.
Although quality of life is recognized as a predictor of survival in patients with advanced cancer, the evidence is less clear in early-stage breast cancer.
To understand the role quality-of-life measures play in early breast cancer, the investigators performed an ancillary analysis of the French Cancer and Toxicities (CANTO) study, which enrolled women with newly diagnosed stage I-III invasive breast cancer at 26 centers in France.
The ancillary CANTO‐PRED study was designed to explore the association between baseline quality of life measures and chemotherapy dose reductions and post-chemotherapy toxicities among 3079 patients with early breast cancer. This included 718 patients who received chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting and 2361 who received chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment.
Most patients received taxanes (94.2%) and/or anthracyclines (90.5%). Other major adjuvant treatments were breast radiation therapy (92.6%), trastuzumab (21%), and endocrine therapy (74%), and all women underwent either breast-conserving surgery (74%) and/or lymph node dissection (60%). Fatigue and physical functioning were measured using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire Core 30.
Among the 3079 patients, 15.5% experienced chemotherapy dose reductions and 31% developed post-chemotherapy toxicities.
After multivariable adjustment for clinical and patient factors, those with baseline fatigue scores greater than 39 (vs 39 or less) had higher odds of chemotherapy dose reductions (odds ratio [OR], 1.43) and post-chemotherapy toxicities (OR, 1.32). Those with baseline physical functioning scores less than 83 (vs 83 or higher) also had higher odds of chemotherapy dose reductions (OR, 1.54) and post-chemotherapy toxicities (OR, 1.50), the authors found.
In addition, cognitive functioning, pain, sleep disturbances, and appetite loss dimensions were associated with both chemotherapy dose reductions and post-chemotherapy toxicities, whereas nausea, vomiting, and dyspnea were associated with post-chemotherapy toxicities.
The researchers also found that performance status was not associated with chemotherapy dose reductions or post-chemotherapy toxicities, suggesting patient-reported quality of life may be a better predictor of outcomes, the authors said.
“The ability to predict important toxicities with baseline information could lead to improvements in the prevention and management of adverse treatment effects by targeting a group of patients who may need [dose reductions] or may have residual toxicities,” the authors concluded.
This study was funded by the French National Research Agency. The authors reported various relevant financial relationships. The full list can be found with the original article.
Cancer. Published online January 15, 2023. Abstract
Sharon Worcester, MA, is an award-winning medical journalist based in Birmingham, Alabama, writing for Medscape, MDedge and other affiliate sites. She currently covers oncology, but she has also written on a variety of other medical specialties and healthcare topics. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SW_MedReporter
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