Abstract
Purpose
We sought to understand the attitudes of individuals with abnormal breast imaging findings prompting a diagnostic breast biopsy toward donation of blood, excised tissue, or percutaneous biospecimens for research, and to understand medical oncologists’ attitudes toward research biospecimen collection in this population.
Methods
We included individuals who presented to a single academic medical center for a clinically indicated, image-guided, percutaneous breast biopsy. We administered a survey prior to knowledge of biopsy results to assess willingness to consider, entirely for research purposes, donating blood or excess excised breast tissue, or having additional biospecimens (AB) obtained during a clinically indicated percutaneous biopsy. We also surveyed breast medical oncologists from National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers to assess attitudes toward approaching patients for biospecimen research.
Results
Overall, 53/63 patients responded to the survey; 70% would consider donating blood, 85% would consider donating excess excised breast tissue, and 32% would consider having AB obtained during a clinically indicated biopsy. Main motivating factors for considering AB included contributing to scientific knowledge and return of study or biopsy results, whereas anxiety and the potential discomfort were the main dissuading factors. Among 191 medical oncologists, most were very comfortable (59.2%), or somewhat comfortable (32.5%) asking patients to have AB obtained during a clinically indicated breast biopsy. Medical oncologists reported hesitancy to refer a patient for AB due to potential pain/discomfort, and other procedure risks.
Conclusions
Only one-third of individuals with breast imaging findings would consider consenting to AB during a diagnostic biopsy, whereas most were open to donating blood or excess excised breast tissue. Most medical oncologists would be comfortable asking patients to have AB obtained during the biopsy. Understanding patients’ and oncologists’ baseline attitudes may inform the design and approach to breast biospecimen-based research.
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Data svailability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Code availability
N/A.
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Acknowledgements
This study was funded using private foundation funding to the Breast Oncology Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The authors would like to acknowledge Kaitlyn T. Bifolck, BA, for editorial and submission assistance in the preparation of the manuscript.
Funding
This study was funded using private foundation funding to the Breast Oncology Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
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Conceptualization, Methodology: DSS, JPL, SMS, EF, JJS, ZKS, SGS, JP, EPW, SEC, NUL. Data Curation: DSS, MH, RL, JJS, NT, JH, JY. Formal analysis: JPL, NT, JH, JY, MH, TKE, NUL. Writing—Original Draft: DSS, JPL, SMS, NT, RL, EF, TKE, SGS, SEC, NUL. Writing—Review and Editing: All authors.
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Conflict of interest
JPL: research funding from Kazia Therapeutics and consulting honoraria from Minerva Biotechnologies. ZKS: immediate family member serves as a consultant in Ophthalmology for Alcon, Adverum Biotechnologies, Gyroscope Therapeutics Limited, Neurogene, and RegenxBio, JP: consulting from Abbott Labs; spouse is employed by GlaxoSmithKline and holds stock in GlaxoSmithKline. EPW: consultant honoraria from Athenex, Carrick Therapeutics, G1 Therapeutics, Genentech/Roche, Genomic Health, GSK, Jounce, Leap, Lilly, Novartis, Seattle Genetics, Syros and Zymeworks; scientific advisory board for Leap; institutional research support from Genentech/Roche. NUL: institutional research support from Genentech, Pfizer, Merck, Seattle Genetics; consulting honoraria from Puma, Seattle Genetics, AstraZeneca, Daiichi-Sankyo, Denali Therapeutics, Olema Pharma, Prelude Therapeutics, Aleta BioPharma, Voyager Therapeutics, Affinia Therapeutics, and Pfizer. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Informed consent
The study was approved by the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) Institutional Review Board. A cover letter explained the study and included reassurance regarding anonymity of responses and that the choice to participate or not participate would not affect their care. Due to the voluntary nature of the survey, completion of the survey was construed as documentation of an individual’s consent to participate in the study. All authors consent to the publication of this manuscript.
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Seah, D.S., Tayob, N., Leone, J.P. et al. Perceptions of patients and medical oncologists toward biospecimen donation in the setting of abnormal breast imaging findings. Breast Cancer Res Treat 192, 201–210 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-021-06494-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-021-06494-z