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Adherence to anti-estrogen therapy in women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer utilizing bubble packaging: a pilot study

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Abstract

Purpose

This pilot study evaluated adherence to anti-estrogen therapy in women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer utilizing bubble packaging.

Methods

This was a single-arm prospective investigational pilot study that enrolled 86 patients between August 2012 and April 2014. Descriptive statistics for patient age, race, insurance, stage, duration of treatment, and comorbidities were computed. All patients received routine prescriptions in a “bubble” pack or daily blister pack dispensed by one pharmacy. Participants were considered adherent if they had taken ≥ 80% of the dispensed drug. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) data were obtained at 78 months.

Results

Fifty patients were included in the analysis. The overall adherence rate was 97%. None of the variables examined (race, age, insurance status, and stage) had an impact on adherence rate. Only duration of endocrine therapy had a marginal effect on adherence (p value = 0.06). The late cohort (duration of therapy 37–60 months) was least likely to be compliant at 89.53%. Our 5-year DFS was 94% and 5-year OS was 96%. There was no statistically significant difference in DFS and OS between patients with adherence rate > 90% and < 90%.

Conclusion

Adherence rate to bubble packaging was higher than that in historical studies. Although this is a single-arm pilot study, these data suggest bubble packaging of anti-estrogen may be a reasonable option to improve adherence in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients.

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Acknowledgment

This study was supported by departmental funds. Dr. Rai was supported by Wendell Cherry Chair in Clinical Trial Research. In addition, Drs. Wu and Rai were supported by the James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

Funding

This study was funded by the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, 529 S Jackson St, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Shruti Bhandari, Phuong Ngo, Blakely Kute, Mounika Mandadi, Dharamvir Jain & Elizabeth C. Riley

  2. Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Facility, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, 505 S Hancock St, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Xiaoyong Wu & Shesh N. Rai

  3. Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville, 485 E Gray St, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Shesh N. Rai

  4. Cancer Registry, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, 550 S Jackson St, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Marie Corliss Brown

  5. James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, 529 S Jackson St, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Whitney A. Pitman & Sandy Lloyd

Authors
  1. Shruti Bhandari
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  2. Phuong Ngo
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  3. Blakely Kute
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  4. Mounika Mandadi
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  5. Whitney A. Pitman
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  6. Xiaoyong Wu
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  7. Sandy Lloyd
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  8. Marie Corliss Brown
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  9. Shesh N. Rai
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  10. Dharamvir Jain
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  11. Elizabeth C. Riley
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shruti Bhandari.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Bhandari, S., Ngo, P., Kute, B. et al. Adherence to anti-estrogen therapy in women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer utilizing bubble packaging: a pilot study. Breast Cancer Res Treat 177, 395–399 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-019-05308-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-019-05308-7

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