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Perception of side effects associated with anticancer treatment in women with breast or ovarian cancer (KEM-GO-1): a prospective trial

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Abstract

Purpose

Due to advances in anticancer treatment and supportive care, patients increasingly complained about nonphysical side effects of chemotherapy and targeted therapy in recent years. Therefore, continuous assessment of side effects and patients’ perceptions is important. The aim of this study was to evaluate the identification and severity of side effects perceived by ovarian cancer (OC) and breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing contemporary anticancer therapy.

Methods

Between 2015 and 2017, consecutive chemo-naïve OC and BC patients were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Interviews were performed 12 ± 3 weeks after start of anticancer therapy, and patients were asked to select and rank, according to severity, 72 physical or nonphysical symptoms potentially related to their treatment. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics.

Results

Forty-five OC patients and 98 BC patients completed the interview. Sleeping difficulties were ranked as the most troublesome symptom, followed by concerns about family or partner, and loss of hair. Alopecia was the most predominant side effect for BC patients, whereas OC patients were highly afflicted by numbness in limbs. Chemotherapy alone or in combination with targeted therapy caused pronounced sleep disturbances. Prolonged taxane treatment led to shortness of breath and numbness in limbs. Vomiting was ranked by one and nausea by eight women among the five most bothersome symptoms.

Conclusions

Sleep disturbances have lately emerged as the most severe problem in women with OC or BC receiving anticancer therapy. Concerns about family and partner were ranked second in the current study and first in previous investigations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology, Evang. Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Evang. Huyssens-Stiftung Essen-Huttrop, Henricistrasse 92, 45136, Essen, Germany

    Beyhan Ataseven, Johanna Frindte, Philipp Harter, Gudrun Gebers, Caroline Vogt, Alexander Traut, Elisabeth Breit, Florian Heitz, Sonia Prader, Mareike Bommert, Stephanie Schneider & Andreas du Bois

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital, LMU, Munich, Germany

    Beyhan Ataseven

  3. Interdisciplinary Breast Unit, Evang. Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Essen, Germany

    Elisabeth Breit, Vincenzo Bluni, Mattea Reinisch, Athina Kostara & Sherko Kuemmel

  4. Department of Gynecology, Campus Virchow Clinic, Charité Medical University, Berlin, Germany

    Florian Heitz

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  1. Beyhan Ataseven
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Beyhan Ataseven.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (Ärztekammer Nordrhein, Germany; number: 2015147, 2015) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Conflict of interest

Beyhan Ataseven reports personal fees and nonfinancial support from Roche and Tesaro; personal fees from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Clovis, and Celgene; and nonfinancial support from PharmaMar, outside the submitted work.

Johanna Frindte, Gudrun Gebers, Caroline Vogt, Alexander Traut, and Vincenzo Bluni have nothing to disclose.

Philipp Harter reports grants and personal fees from Astra Zeneca, Roche, Tesaro, and Public funding (ASCO, DKH, DFG); personal fees from Sotio, Stryker, Zai Lab, MSD, Clovis, and Immunogen; and grants from GSK, Boehringer Ingelheim, Medac, and Genmab, outside the submitted work.

Elisabeth Breit reports personal fees from Olympus Europa SE & CO and Sysmex Europe GmbH, outside the submitted work.

Mattea Reinisch reports personal fees and nonfinancial support from Novartis and Pfizer; personal fees from Roche Pharma, Eli Lilly, Hexal, Daiichi Sankyo, and AstraZeneca; and nonfinancial support from Celgene, outside the submitted work.

Florian Heitz reports personal fees from Roche, AstraZeneca, and Clovis and personal fees and nonfinancial support from PharmaMar and Tesaro, outside the submitted work.

Athina Kostara reports personal fees and nonfinancial support from Astra Zeneca and nonfinancial support from Tesaro and Somatex, outside the submitted work.

Sherko Kuemmel reports personal fees from Roche, Genomic Health, Novartis, Amgen, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Astra Zeneca, Somatex, MSD, Pfizer, Puma Biotechnology, Eli Lilly, Genentech, and PFM medical and personal fees and nonfinancial support from Roche and Daiichi Sankyo, outside the submitted work.

Sonia Prader reports nonfinancial support from Tesaro, outside the submitted work.

Mareike Bommert reports nonfinancial support from prIME Oncology, outside the submitted work.

Stephanie Schneider reports personal fees from Astra Zeneca, Tesaro, and Roche and nonfinancial support from Tesaro, outside the submitted work.

Andreas du Bois reports personal fees from Roche, Astra Zeneca, Tesaro, Clovis, Pfizer, Genmab, Pharmar, Biocad, and MSD, outside the submitted work.

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Ataseven, B., Frindte, J., Harter, P. et al. Perception of side effects associated with anticancer treatment in women with breast or ovarian cancer (KEM-GO-1): a prospective trial. Support Care Cancer 28, 3605–3615 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05216-y

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