Toward implementation of an evidence-based intervention for fear of cancer recurrence: Feasibility in real-world psycho-oncology practice.

OBJECTIVE: Few evidence-based interventions addressing high levels of fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) have been implemented. Understanding how these might be implemented is crucial to bridge the research-practice gap. This study investigated the feasibility of implementing the blended Survivors' Worries of Recurrent Disease (SWORD) intervention in real-world psycho-oncology practice. METHODS: SWORD was offered for 15 months (2021-2022) as the standard care for clinical FCR in a university hospital, a general hospital, and psycho-oncological center. We evaluated using a mixed-methods design six feasibility outcomes based on Bowen's framework: demand, limited effectiveness, degree of execution, acceptability, practicality, and integration. Anonymous data were collected for all oncology patients on referral. Study participants completed questionnaires before and after treatment, including the Cancer Worry Scale (CWS-6) as the primary measure of effectiveness. Qualitative data included interviews with patients and psychologists, and field notes. RESULTS: Regarding demand, 81 of 644 patients referred (13%) were eligible for SWORD. The uptake of SWORD was 79% (n = 63/80) and the completion rate 73% (n = 46/63). SWORD was effective in reducing FCR (p < 0.001, ηp2  = 0.694). Regarding execution, a variability in the length, planning and number of treatment sessions was found between different settings. Adherence to the treatment manual's content was high (89%). Regarding acceptability, most patients were satisfied with SWORD (average 8.2/10) and psychologists valued the blended format. Psychologists reported SWORD was practical to deliver given their knowledge and skills. Although differences between settings were found, SWORD integrated well into practice. Referral for FCR and a reluctance to contract new eHealth providers were barriers for implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Despite differences between healthcare settings, the implementation of SWORD was evaluated well. The feasibility of SWORD in different settings should inform a national implementation strategy.

Value of routine follow-up for recurrence detection after treatment with curative intent for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: The benefits of routine follow-up after treatment of primary laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remain disputed. Guidelines worldwide are consensus-based, and evidence for specific subgroups is lacking. This study evaluates routine LSCC follow-up including flexible endoscopy for detecting locoregional recurrence (LRR). METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 413 LSCC patients treated between 2006 and 2012 was analysed. The cumulative risk of LRR was calculated. Routine follow-up was evaluated by follow-up visit (routine or interval) at which LRR was detected, LRR treatment intent, and overall survival (OS). Analyses were stratified by early (I-II) and advanced (III-IV) TNM-stage. RESULTS: There were 263 (64 %) patients with early-stage and 132 (32 %) patients with advanced-stage LSCC. One-, two- and five-year cumulative risks for LRR after early-stage LSCC were 8 %, 18 %, and 26 %. For advanced-stage LSCC, cumulative risks of LRR were 20 %, 30 %, and 35 %. Of all 69 LRRs after early-stage LSCC, 72 % were routine-detected, 81 % were symptomatic, and 90 % received curative-intent treatment. Of all 45 LRRs following advanced-stage LSCC, 42 % were routine-detected, 84 % were symptomatic, and 62 % received curative-intent treatment. Five-year OS of early-stage LSCC with routine-detected LRR was 70 %, and 72 % for interval-detection (log-rank-p = 0.91). Five-year OS of advanced-stage LSCC with routine-detected LRR was 37 %, and 18 % for interval-detection (log-rank-p = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: Routine follow-up for detecting asymptomatic recurrences seems redundant for early-stage LSCC. After advanced-stage LSCC, no asymptomatic recurrences were detected beyond one year posttreatment despite regular follow-up. Emphasis should be on other follow-up aspects, such as psychosocial support, especially after one year posttreatment.

Therapeutic drug monitoring to personalize dosing of imatinib, sunitinib, and pazopanib: A mixed methods study on barriers and facilitators.

BACKGROUND: Personalized dosing based on measurement of individual drug levels and adjusting the dose accordingly can improve efficacy and decrease unnecessary toxicity of oncological treatment. For imatinib, sunitinib, and pazopanib, this therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM)-guided dosing is, however, not routinely used, despite accumulating evidence favoring individualized dosing. Therefore, we aimed to identify and quantify (potential) barriers and facilitators in TDM-guided dosing for imatinib, sunitinib, and pazopanib. METHODS: We performed a mixed methods study among all stakeholders involved: patients, healthcare professionals (HCPs), pharmaceutical companies, and health insurance companies. During the first qualitative part of this study, we performed semi-structured individual interviews and one focus group interview to identify all (potential) barriers and facilitators, and during the second quantitative part of this study, we used a web-based survey to quantify these findings. The interviews addressed the six domains of the implementation of change model of Grol and Wensing: (1) the innovation itself; (2) the HCP; (3) the patient; (4) social context; (5) organizational context; and (6) finances, law, and governance. RESULTS: In the qualitative study, we interviewed 20 patients, 18 HCPs and 10 representatives of pharmaceutical and health insurance companies and identified 72 barriers and 90 facilitators. In the quantitative study, the survey was responded by 66 HCPs and 58 patients. Important barriers were on the domain of the HCP, such as a lack of experience with TDM (36.4%), on the domain of the patient, such as lack of awareness of TDM (39.7%), and the processing time for measurement and interpretation of the TDM result (40.9%) (organizational domain). Important facilitators were education of HCPs (95.5%), education of patients (87.9%) and facilitating an overview of when and where TDM measurements are being performed (86.4%). CONCLUSION: We identified and quantified important barriers and facilitators for the implementation of TDM-guided dosing for imatinib, sunitinib, and pazopanib. Based on our results, the implementation strategy should mainly focus on educating both HCPs and patients and on the organizational aspect of TDM.

Improvement, Implementation, and Evaluation of the CMyLife Digital Care Platform: Participatory Action Research Approach.

BACKGROUND: The evaluation of a continuously evolving eHealth tool in terms of improvement and implementation in daily practice is unclear. The CMyLife digital care platform provides patient-centered care by empowering patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, with a focus on making medication compliance insightful, discussable, and optimal, and achieving optimal control of the biomarker BCR-ABL1. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent the participatory action research approach is suitable for the improvement and scientific evaluation of eHealth innovations in daily clinical practice (measured by user experiences) combined with the promotion of patient empowerment. METHODS: The study used iterative cycles of planning, action, and reflection, whereby participants' experiences (patients, health care providers, the CMyLife team, and app suppliers) with the platform determined next actions. Co-design workshops were the foundation of this cyclic process. Moreover, patients filled in 2 sets of questionnaires for assessing experiences with CMyLife, the actual use of the platform, and the influence of the platform after 3 and at least 6 months. Data collected during the workshops were analyzed using content analysis, which is often used for making a practical guide to action. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the study population in terms of information related to chronic myeloid leukemia and sociodemographics, and to describe experiences with the CMyLife digital care platform and the actual use of this platform. RESULTS: The co-design workshops provided insights that contributed to the improvement, implementation, and evaluation of CMyLife and empowered patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (for example, simplification of language, and improvement of the user friendliness of functionalities). The results of the questionnaires indicated that (1) the platform improved information provision on chronic myeloid leukemia in 67% (33/49) of patients, (2) the use of the medication app improved medication compliance in 42% (16/38) of patients, (3) the use of the guideline app improved guideline adherence in 44% (11/25) of patients, and (4) the use of the platform caused patients to feel more empowered. CONCLUSIONS: A participatory action research approach is suited to scientifically evaluate digital care platforms in daily clinical practice in terms of improvement, implementation, and patient empowerment. Systematic iterative evaluation of users' needs and wishes is needed to keep care centered on patients and keep the innovation up-to-date and valuable for users.

Pathologists' first opinions on barriers and facilitators of computational pathology adoption in oncological pathology: an international study.

Computational pathology (CPath) algorithms detect, segment or classify cancer in whole slide images, approaching or even exceeding the accuracy of pathologists. Challenges have to be overcome before these algorithms can be used in practice. We therefore aim to explore international perspectives on the future role of CPath in oncological pathology by focusing on opinions and first experiences regarding barriers and facilitators. We conducted an international explorative eSurvey and semi-structured interviews with pathologists utilizing an implementation framework to classify potential influencing factors. The eSurvey results showed remarkable variation in opinions regarding attitude, understandability and validation of CPath. Interview results showed that barriers focused on the quality of available evidence, while most facilitators concerned strengths of CPath. A lack of consensus was present for multiple factors, such as the determination of sufficient validation using CPath, the preferred function of CPath within the digital workflow and the timing of CPath introduction in pathology education. The diversity in opinions illustrates variety in influencing factors in CPath adoption. A next step would be to quantitatively determine important factors for adoption and initiate validation studies. Both should include clear case descriptions and be conducted among a more homogenous panel of pathologists based on sub specialization.

Measuring chronic myeloid leukaemia TKI-related toxic effects in the real world: a systematic review and critical assessment of content validity of patient-reported outcome measures.

Insight into real-world treatment-related toxic effects reported by patients has the potential to improve care, benchmark trials, and fill knowledge gaps, especially in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia, which is treated in the majority of patients continually with tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The aim of our systematic review was to investigate the content validity of instruments that elicit TKI-related toxic effects reported by patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia in the real world. We searched PubMed and Embase from Jan 1, 2017 to Oct 21, 2022. Studies on instruments used in or developed for patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia that assess a patient's symptoms were eligible. Content validity was assessed according to the Consensus-Based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN): none of the six identified instruments were rated as sufficient. Five instruments (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire for chronic myeloid leukaemia with 24 items [EORTC QLQ-CML24], EORTC symptom set, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Leukaemia [FACT-LEU], haematological malignancies patient-reported outcomes [HM-PRO], and MD Anderson Symptom Inventory for chronic myeloid leukaemia [MDASI-CML]) were rated as inconsistent due to not being evaluated by professionals post-development, having very few patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia involved, or missing key symptoms. Moderate-quality to very low-quality evidence underpinned these ratings. The two EORTC instruments were the only ones not to miss key toxic effects (eg, muscle cramps). However, their relevance was rated as inconsistent: the QLQ-CML24 includes questions on health-related quality-of-life, whereas the symptom set includes items sourced from solid cancer treatments. This Review shows the need for an instrument with sufficient content validity to measure toxic effects from TKI treatment in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia. Until then, stakeholders can make an informed choice from currently used instruments with our assessment.

Evaluation of a remote monitoring app in head and neck cancer follow-up care.

BACKGROUND: A remote monitoring app was developed for head and neck cancer (HNC) follow-up during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This mixed-methods study provides insight in the usability and patients' experiences with the app to develop recommendations for future use. METHODS: Patients were invited to participate if they were treated for HNC, used the app at least once and were in clinical follow-up. A subset was selected for semi-structured interviews through purposive sampling considering gender and age. This study was conducted between September 2021-May 2022 at a Dutch university medical center. RESULTS: 135 of the 216 invited patients completed the questionnaire, resulting in a total mHealth usability score of 4.72 (± 1.13) out of 7. Thirteen semi-structured interviews revealed 12 barriers and 11 facilitators. Most of them occurred at the level of the app itself. For example, patients received no feedback when all their answers were normal. The app made patients feel more responsible over their follow-up, but could not fulfill the need for personal contact with the attending physician. Patients felt that the app could replace some of the outpatient follow-up visits. CONCLUSIONS: Our app is user-friendly, makes patients feel more in control and remote monitoring can reduce the frequency of outpatient follow-up visits. The barriers that emerged must be resolved before the app can be used in regular HNC follow-up. Future studies should investigate the appropriate ratio of remote monitoring to outpatient follow-up visits and the cost-effectiveness of remote monitoring in oncology care on a larger scale.

Perceived barriers and facilitators to health behaviors in European childhood cancer survivors: A qualitative PanCareFollowUp study.

BACKGROUND: Healthy behaviors, that is, engaging in regular physical activities, maintaining a healthy diet, limiting alcohol consumption, and avoiding tobacco and drug use, decrease the risk of developing late adverse health conditions in childhood cancer survivors. However, childhood cancer survivors may experience barriers to adopting and maintaining healthy behaviors. This study aimed to assess these barriers and facilitators to health behavior adoption and maintenance in childhood cancer survivors. METHODS: A focus group ( n = 12) and semi-structured telephone interviews ( n = 20) were conducted with a selected sample of European and Dutch childhood cancer survivors, respectively. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) was used to inform the topic guide and analysis. Inductive thematic analysis was applied to identify categories relating to barriers and facilitators of health behavior adoption and maintenance, after which they were deductively mapped onto the TDF. RESULTS: Ten TDF domains were identified in the data of which "Knowledge," "Beliefs about consequences," "Environmental context and resources," and "Social influences" were most commonly reported. Childhood cancer survivors expressed a need for knowledge on the importance of healthy behaviors, possibly provided by healthcare professionals. They indicated physical and long-term benefits of healthy behaviors, available professional support, and a supporting and health-consciously minded work and social environment to be facilitators. Barriers were mostly related to a lack of available time and an unhealthy environment. Lastly, (social) media was perceived as both a barrier and a facilitator to healthy behaviors. CONCLUSION: This study has identified education and available professional support in health behaviors and the relevance of healthy behaviors for childhood cancer survivors as key opportunities for stimulating health behavior adoption in childhood cancer survivors. Incorporating health behavior support and interventions for this population should therefore be a high priority.

TUBectomy with delayed oophorectomy as an alternative to risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy in high-risk women to assess the safety of prevention: the TUBA-WISP II study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Risk-reducing salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy has gained interest for individuals at high risk for tubo-ovarian cancer as there is compelling evidence that especially high-grade serous carcinoma originates in the fallopian tubes. Two studies have demonstrated a positive effect of salpingectomy on menopause-related quality of life and sexual health compared with standard risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy is non-inferior to the current standard salpingo-oophorectomy for the prevention of tubo-ovarian cancer among individuals at high inherited risk. STUDY HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesize that postponement of oophorectomy after salpingectomy, to the age of 40-45 (BRCA1) or 45-50 (BRCA2) years, compared with the current standard salpingo-oophorectomy at age 35-40 (BRCA1) or 40-45 (BRCA2) years, is non-inferior in regard to tubo-ovarian cancer risk. TRIAL DESIGN: In this international prospective preference trial, participants will choose between the novel salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy and the current standard salpingo-oophorectomy. Salpingectomy can be performed after the completion of childbearing and between the age of 25 and 40 (BRCA1), 25 and 45 (BRCA2), or 25 and 50 (BRIP1, RAD51C, and RAD51D pathogenic variant carriers) years. Subsequent oophorectomy is recommended at a maximum delay of 5 years beyond the upper limit of the current guideline age for salpingo-oophorectomy. The current National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guideline age, which is also the recommended age for salpingo-oophorectomy within the study, is 35-40 years for BRCA1, 40-45 years for BRCA2, and 45-50 years for BRIP1, RAD51C, and RAD51D pathogenic variant carriers. MAJOR INCLUSION/EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Premenopausal individuals with a documented class IV or V germline pathogenic variant in the BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, RAD51C, or RAD51D gene who have completed childbearing are eligible for participation. Participants may have a personal history of a non-ovarian malignancy. PRIMARY ENDPOINT: The primary outcome is the cumulative tubo-ovarian cancer incidence at the target age: 46 years for BRCA1 and 51 years for BRCA2 pathogenic variant carriers. SAMPLE SIZE: The sample size to ensure sufficient power to test non-inferiority of salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy compared with salpingo-oophorectomy requires 1500 BRCA1 and 1500 BRCA2 pathogenic variant carriers. ESTIMATED DATES FOR COMPLETING ACCRUAL AND PRESENTING RESULTS: Participant recruitment is expected to be completed at the end of 2026 (total recruitment period of 5 years). The primary outcome is expected to be available in 2036 (minimal follow-up period of 10 years). TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04294927.

Consensus based recommendations for the diagnosis of serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma: an international Delphi study.

AIM: Reliably diagnosing or safely excluding serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC), a precursor lesion of tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC), is crucial for individual patient care, for better understanding the oncogenesis of HGSC, and for safely investigating novel strategies to prevent tubo-ovarian carcinoma. To optimize STIC diagnosis and increase its reproducibility, we set up a three-round Delphi study. METHODS AND RESULTS: In round 1, an international expert panel of 34 gynecologic pathologists, from 11 countries, was assembled to provide input regarding STIC diagnosis, which was used to develop a set of statements. In round 2, the panel rated their level of agreement with those statements on a 9-point Likert scale. In round 3, statements without previous consensus were rated again by the panel while anonymously disclosing the responses of the other panel members. Finally, each expert was asked to approve or disapprove the complete set of consensus statements. The panel indicated their level of agreement with 64 statements. A total of 27 statements (42%) reached consensus after three rounds. These statements reflect the entire diagnostic work-up for pathologists, regarding processing and macroscopy (three statements); microscopy (eight statements); immunohistochemistry (nine statements); interpretation and reporting (four statements); and miscellaneous (three statements). The final set of consensus statements was approved by 85%. CONCLUSION: This study provides an overview of current clinical practice regarding STIC diagnosis amongst expert gynecopathologists. The experts' consensus statements form the basis for a set of recommendations, which may help towards more consistent STIC diagnosis.

Effectiveness of digital care platform CMyLife for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia: results of a patient-preference trial.

BACKGROUND: Two most important factors determining treatment success in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) are adequate medication compliance and molecular monitoring albeit still being suboptimal. The CMyLife platform is an eHealth innovation, co-created with and for CML patients, aiming to improve their care, leading to an increased quality of life and the opportunity of hospital-free care. OBJECTIVE: To explore the effectiveness of CMyLife in terms of information provision, patient empowerment, medication compliance, molecular monitoring, and quality of life. METHODS: Effectiveness of CMyLife was explored using a patient-preference trial. Upon completion of the baseline questionnaire, participants actively used (intervention group) or did not actively use (questionnaire group) the CMyLife platform for at least 6 months, after which they completed the post-intervention questionnaire. Scores between the intervention group and the questionnaire group were compared with regard to the within-subject change between baseline and post-measurement using Generalized Estimating Equation models. RESULTS: At baseline, 33 patients were enrolled in the questionnaire group and 75 in the intervention group. Online health information knowledge improved significantly when actively using CMyLife and patients felt more empowered. No significant improvements were found regarding medication compliance and molecular monitoring, which were already outstanding. Self-reported effectiveness showed that patients experienced that using CMyLife improved their medication compliance and helped them to oversee their molecular monitoring. Patients using CMyLife reported more symptoms but were better able to manage these. CONCLUSIONS: Since hospital-free care has shown to be feasible in time of the COVID-19 pandemic, eHealth-based innovations such as CMyLife could be a solution to maintain the quality of care and make current oncological health care services more sustainable. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04595955 , 22/10/2020.

A Systematic Review and Multilevel Regression Analysis Reveals the Comorbidity Prevalence in Cancer.

Comorbidities can have major implications for cancer care, as they might impact the timing of cancer diagnosis, compromise optimal care, affect treatment outcomes, and increase healthcare costs. Thus, it is important to comprehensively evaluate cancer comorbidities and examine trends over time. Here, we performed a systematic literature review on the prevalence and types of comorbidities for the five most common forms of cancer. Observational studies from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries published between 1990 and 2020 in English or Dutch that used routinely collected data from a representative population were included. The search yielded 3,070 articles, of which, 161 were eligible for data analyses. Multilevel analyses were performed to evaluate determinants of variation in comorbidity prevalence and trends over time. The weighted average comorbidity prevalence was 33.4%, and comorbidities were the most common in lung cancer (46.7%) and colorectal cancer (40.0%), followed by prostate cancer (28.5%), melanoma cancer (28.3%), and breast cancer (22.4%). The most common types of comorbidities were hypertension (29.7%), pulmonary diseases (15.9%), and diabetes (13.5%). After adjusting for gender, type of comorbidity index, age, data source (patient records vs. claims), and country, a significant increase in comorbidities of 0.54% per year was observed. Overall, a large and increasing proportion of the oncologic population is dealing with comorbidities, which could be used to inform and adapt treatment options to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. SIGNIFICANCE: Comorbidities are frequent and increasing in patients with cancer, emphasizing the importance of exploring optimal ways for uniform comorbidity registration and incorporating comorbidity management into cancer care.

First step in implementation of opportunistic salpingectomy for prevention of ovarian cancer: Current care and its determinants.

INTRODUCTION: Opportunistic salpingectomy (OS) refers to additional removal of the fallopian tubes during abdominal surgery performed for another medical indication, as prevention for ovarian cancer. As OS has been inconsistently implemented, its clinical practice varies worldwide. To reduce this variation, insight is required into current clinical practice and its determinants. Therefore, the study aim was to determine the implementation of counseling and performance of OS between 2015 and 2018, and its patient, surgical, physician, and hospital characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective study using electronic medical records from six different Dutch hospitals: two academic, two large teaching, and two non-teaching hospitals. Patients were considered eligible for OS if they underwent elective non-obstetric abdominal surgery for a gynecological indication from January 2015 through December 2018. Primary outcomes were uptake of counseling and performance of OS. Multilevel multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify characteristics associated with OS. RESULTS: A total of 3214 patients underwent elective non-obstetric abdominal surgery for a gynecological indication and were eligible for OS. Counseling on OS increased significantly from 2.9% in 2015 to 29.4% in 2018. In this period, 440 patients were counseled on OS, of which 95.9% chose OS. Performance of OS increased significantly from 6.9% in 2015 to 44.5% in 2018. Counseling for and performance of OS were more likely in patients who had surgery by laparoscopic approach, were counseled by a gynecological resident, or had more than three contact moments before surgery. Additionally, OS was less likely in patients who had vaginal surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Although the uptake of OS increased from 2015 to 2018, the majority of patients who were eligible for OS were not counseled and did not undergo OS. Its clinical practice varies on patient, surgery, and physician characteristics. Therefore, an implementation strategy tailored to associated determinants is recommended.

Quality of integrated female oncofertility care is suboptimal: A patient-reported measurement.

BACKGROUND: Clinical practice guidelines recommend to inform female cancer patients about their infertility risks due to cancer treatment. Unfortunately, it seems that guideline adherence is suboptimal. In order to improve quality of integrated female oncofertility care, a systematic assessment of current practice is necessary. METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional survey study in which a set of systematically developed quality indicators was processed, was conducted among female cancer patients (diagnosed in 2016/2017). These indicators represented all domains in oncofertility care; risk communication, referral, counseling, and decision-making. Indicator scores were calculated, and determinants were assessed by multilevel multivariate analyses. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-one out of 344 female cancer patients participated. Eight out of 11 indicators scored below 90% adherence. Of all patients, 72.7% was informed about their infertility, 51.2% was offered a referral, with 18.8% all aspects were discussed in counseling, and 35.5% received written and/or digital information. Patient's age, strength of wish to conceive, time before cancer treatment, and type of healthcare provider significantly influenced the scores of three indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Current quality of female oncofertility care is far from optimal. Therefore, improvement is needed. To achieve this, improvement strategies that are tailored to the identified determinants and to guideline-specific barriers should be developed.

Evaluating the capacity of the distress thermometer to detect high fear of cancer recurrence.

OBJECTIVES: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is common and burdensome to patients, but often remains undetected. Oncology professionals report need for tools to improve FCR detection in routine care. Oncology care guidelines recommend the Distress Thermometer (DT) for distress screening, but it has not been validated for FCR. This study evaluated the capacity of the DT and accompanying problem list to detect FCR. METHODS: Amalgamated data of two studies with 149 breast cancer and 74 colorectal cancer survivors were used. We evaluated the Dutch DT including the DT score, problem list fears item and emotional domain score using Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses. The Dutch Cancer Worry Scale-6 (CWS-6) was used as reference measure, with validated cut-off scores ≥10 and ≥12 for high FCR. Sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values were calculated. RESULTS: The DT score showed poor performance in discriminating between low and high FCR. The recommended cut-off ≥4 had low sensitivity (65% for CWS-6≥10; 72% for CWS-6 ≥12) and specificity (67% and 58%). No other cut-off had an acceptable combination of sensitivity and specificity. The fears item had low sensitivity (29% and 44.9%) and high specificity (95% and 94%). The emotional domain score had fair performance in discriminating between low and high FCR but there was no cut-off with acceptable sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSION: The DT as currently recommended in oncology care guidelines is not suitable to effectively detect FCR in routine care. To improve patients access to psychosocial care, it should be investigated how FCR-specific measures can be integrated in oncology practice.

Healthcare professionals' perceived barriers and facilitators of health behavior support provision: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) have an increased risk of developing chronic health conditions. Evidence suggests that poor health behaviors further increase health risks. Healthcare professionals (HCPs) involved in survivorship care have a key role in providing health behavior support (HBS) but can feel limited in their ability to do so. This study aims to explore European HCPs perceived facilitators and barriers to providing HBS to CCSs. METHODS: Five focus groups with 30 HCPs from survivorship care clinics across Europe were conducted. Topic guides were informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to capture domains that may influence provision of HBS. Focus groups were analyzed with thematic analysis. Transcripts were inductively coded, after which axial coding was applied to organize codes into categories. Finally, categories were mapped onto the TDF domains. RESULTS: Nine TDF domains were identified in the data. The most commonly reported TDF domains were "Knowledge", "Skills", and "Environmental context and resources". HCPs indicated that their lack of knowledge of the association between late effects and health behaviors, besides time restrictions, were barriers to HBS. Facilitators for HBS included possession of skills needed to pass on health behavior information, good clinic organization, and an established network of HCPs. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified education and training of HCPs as key opportunities to improve HBS. Survivorship care clinics should work towards establishing well-integrated structured care with internal and external networks including HBS being part of routine care. Proper understanding of facilitators and barriers should lead to better survivorship care for CCSs.

Cancer treatments touch a wide range of values that count for patients and other stakeholders: What are the implications for decision-making?

BACKGROUND: Cancer rates and expenditures are increasing, resulting in debates on the exact value of this care. Perspectives on what exactly constitutes worthwhile values differ. This study aims to explore all values-elements regarding new oncological treatments for patients with cancer and all stakeholders involved and to assess their implications in different decision-making procedures. METHOD: Thirty-one individual in-depth interviews were conducted with different stakeholders to identify values within oncology. A focus group with seven experts was performed to explore its possible implications in decision-making procedures. RESULTS: The overarching themes of values identified were impact on daily life and future, costs for patients and loved ones, quality of life, impact on loved ones, societal impact and quality of treatments. The expert panel revealed that the extended exploration of values that matter to patients is deemed useful in patient-level decision-making, information provision, patient empowerment and support during and after treatment. For national reimbursement decisions, implications for the broad range of values seems less clear. CONCLUSION: Clinical values are not the only ones that matter to oncological patients and the stakeholders in the field. We found a much broader range of values. Proper recognition of values that count might add to patient-level decision-making, but implications for reimbursement decisions are less clear. The results could be useful to guide clinicians and policymakers when it comes to decision-making in oncology. Making more explicit which values counts for whom guarantees a more systematic approach to decision-making on all levels.

Barriers and facilitators for implementation of the SWORD evidence-based psychological intervention for fear of cancer recurrence in three different healthcare settings.

PURPOSE: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) interventions are effective, but few are implemented. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators for implementing the evidence-based blended SWORD intervention in routine psycho-oncological care. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with 19 cancer survivors and 18 professionals from three healthcare settings assessed barriers and facilitators in six domains as described by the determinant frameworks of Grol and Flottorp: (1) innovation, (2) professionals, (3) patients, (4) social context, (5) organization, and (6) economic and political context. RESULTS: In the innovation domain, there were few barriers. Facilitators included high reliability, accessibility, and relevance of SWORD. In the professional domain, physicians and nurses barriers were lack of self-efficacy, knowledge, and skills to address FCR whereas psychologists had sufficient knowledge and skills, but some were critical towards protocolized treatments, cognitive behavioral therapy, or eHealth. Patient domain barriers included lack of FCR awareness, negative expectations of psychotherapy, and unwillingness/inability to actively engage in treatment. A social context domain barrier was poor communication between different healthcare professionals. Organization domain barriers included inadequate referral structures to psychological services, limited capacity, and complex legal procedures. Economic and political context domain barriers included lack of a national implementation structure for evidence-based psycho-oncological interventions and eHealth platform costs. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation strategies should be targeted at patient, professional, organizational and economic and political domains. Identified barriers and facilitators are relevant to other researchers in psycho-oncology that aim to bridge the research-practice gap. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: This study contributes to the implementation of evidence-based psychological interventions for cancer survivors, who can benefit from these services.

Adherence to quality indicators in chronic myeloid leukemia care: results from a population-based study in The Netherlands.

Suboptimal guideline adherence in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) care is associated with worse treatment outcomes. Current study focused on adherence to seven quality indicators (QIs) based on the European Leukemia Network guideline (one diagnostic, one therapeutic, and five monitoring indicators). Data were obtained from population-based registries in the Netherlands of 405 newly diagnosed chronic phase CML patients between January 2008 and April 2013. Compliance rates regarding diagnostic and therapeutic indicator were 83% and 78%, respectively. Monitoring indicators rates were lower: 21-27% for indicators concerning the first year and 58% and 62% for the second and third year, respectively. Noncompliance occurred mostly due to non-timely monitoring. Twenty cases did not comply with any indicator, 6% complied with all indicators. After adjustment for age, overall survival rates did not differ significantly between the groups. Adherence to guideline-based QIs was suboptimal. This demonstrates the evidence-practice gap, shows room for improvement and underscores the need for real-world data.

Individualised follow-up for head and neck cancer-design of a prospective cohort study to assess its feasibility.

INTRODUCTION: It is a common practice for many cancer types to monitor patients after treatment to detect new disease manifestations early. For head and neck cancer (HNC), however, long-term routine follow-up is up for debate for several reasons. The benefits of prolonged routine follow-up on survival have not been proven. Also, cancer follow-up is putting increasing pressure on healthcare resources due to rising incidence and survival rates. Therefore, this study investigates a novel follow-up approach among HNC patients, giving them the opportunity to choose their own follow-up programme. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: HNC patients are offered a decision-aided choice between standardised or individualised follow-up after 1.5 years of uncomplicated guideline-prescribed follow-up. Standardised follow-up entails continuing the 5-year guideline-prescribed schedule. Individualised follow-up means the patient only attends the outpatient clinic on their own initiative in case of physical symptoms or supportive care needs. Patients are educated on self-examination and when a control visit is necessary. The primary outcome measure is the feasibility of offering patients this choice. Secondary outcome measures are quality of life, costs, productivity loss and detection of new disease. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: We believe that it is essential to let patients determine their follow-up programme based on their own values and preferences. If this choice is feasible, it can be implemented and investigated in other HNC care centres. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05386225.