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. 2021 Apr 23:13:3529-3537.
doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S300063. eCollection 2021.

Assessment of Bone Health Education in US Multiple Myeloma and Solid Tumor Patients at Risk for Skeletal-Related Events

Darcy R Flora  1 , Katherine B Carlson  2 , David C Fuehrer  1 , Benoit Cadieux  3 , Guy Boike  4 , Jennifer Schenfeld  2 , Kimberly A Lowe  2
Affiliations

Assessment of Bone Health Education in US Multiple Myeloma and Solid Tumor Patients at Risk for Skeletal-Related Events

Darcy R Flora et al. Cancer Manag Res. .

Abstract

Purpose: Cancer patients with bone metastasis (BM) from solid tumors or multiple myeloma (MM) have an increased risk of painful skeletal-related events (SREs), which can decrease quality of life and increase mortality. Bone targeting agents (BTAs) can help delay or prevent SREs; however, a significant portion of eligible patients are not receiving BTA therapy. This study was conducted to understand patient awareness of cancer-related bone health and to identify opportunities to improve bone health education in cancer patients at risk of SREs.

Methods: The online BonE heAlth eduCatiOn Needs assessment (BEACON) survey included questions about patient demographics, cancer diagnosis and treatments (including BTA usage), and extent and satisfaction with bone health education received. Direct-to-patient outreach was used to recruit patients. Eligible patients were US adults with a diagnosis of self-reported MM or BM from a solid tumor (breast, lung, or prostate cancer) within the past three years.

Results: Of 125 patients, 71% were diagnosed with solid tumors with BM and 29% with MM. At least one prior SRE was experienced by 57% of patients (38% radiation to bone, 32% bone fracture, 22% spinal cord compression, and 19% surgery to bone), and 74% were currently receiving BTA therapy. Awareness of cancer bone health, protection strategies, and screening tests was low to moderate; patients were least informed of the impact of lifestyle changes (38%) and specific cancer treatments (≤35%) on bone health. Sixty-two percent of patients were not completely satisfied with the bone health education received. Patients generally wanted more information (58%) and to receive information by more than one mode of communication.

Conclusion: Notable gaps in bone health education were observed in cancer patients at risk for SREs indicating an important need for improved communication and education strategies to promote better health outcomes.

Keywords: bone metastasis; bone targeting agents; fracture; radiation to bone; spinal cord compression; surgery to bone.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr Darcy R Flora reports GRYT Health has received payment from Amgen to design, conduct, and analyze data from the study and to prepare the manuscript; GRYT Health also has received payment from Amgen for other research and for sponsorship of GRYT Health’s Global Virtual Cancer Conference. Dr Katherine B Carlson is a former employee of Amgen and is a current employee of Moderna. Dr Benoit Cadieux, Ms Jennifer Schenfeld, and Dr Kimberly A Lowe are employees of and hold stock in Amgen. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Type of skeletal-related event (SRE) reported by patients.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Amount and satisfaction of bone health information received by patients. (A) Amount of bone health information received. (B) Satisfaction with bone health information received.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Sharing of bone health information. (A) How HCPs shared bone health information with patients. (B) How patients want bone health information to be shared.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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