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. 2023 Mar 26;30(4):3627-3636.
doi: 10.3390/curroncol30040276.

Patient-Initiated Follow-Up in Ovarian Cancer

Hiu Mei Luk  1 , Siew Fei Ngu  1 , Lesley S K Lau  1 , Ka Yu Tse  1 , Mandy M Y Chu  1 , Shuk Tak Kwok  1 , Hextan Y S Ngan  1 , Karen K L Chan  1
Affiliations

Patient-Initiated Follow-Up in Ovarian Cancer

Hiu Mei Luk et al. Curr Oncol. .

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the feasibility of patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU) in combination with regular tumour marker monitoring as an alternative to conventional hospital follow-up for ovarian cancer survivors. Women who had recently completed treatment for ovarian cancer and had a raised pre-treatment tumour marker were recruited. Participants were allocated to PIFU (intervention group) or conventional hospital follow-up (control group) according to their own preference. Both groups had regular tumour marker monitoring. The change in fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) score as measured by the FCR inventory, and the supportive care need (SCN) scores as measured by the SCN survey at baseline and at 6 months between PIFU and hospital follow-up were compared. Out of 64 participants, 37 (58%) opted for hospital follow-up and 27 (42%) opted for PIFU. During the 6-month study period, there was no significant difference in the change of FCR between the two groups (p = 0.35). There was a significant decrease in the sexuality unmet needs score in the intervention group from baseline to 6-month FU (mean difference -8.7, 95% confidence interval -16.1 to -1.4, p = 0.02). PIFU with tumour marker monitoring is a feasible follow-up approach in ovarian cancer survivorship care. FCR and SCN were comparable between PIFU and conventional hospital follow-up.

Keywords: cancer survivorship; fear of cancer recurrence; ovarian cancer; patient-initiated follow-up; supportive care needs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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