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Multicenter Study
. 2025 Jun:81:104456.
doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2025.104456. Epub 2025 Mar 21.

Patient perception on risk of recurrence and decision-making in the management of HER2-positive early breast cancer: Insights from the ASKHER2 European survey

Matteo Lambertini  1 , Christian Jackisch  2 , Olivier Trédan  3 , Maria Vidal  4 , Mário Fontes-Sousa  5 , Antonios Valachis  6 , Rosanna D'Antona  7 , Marcelo Ruz  8 , Eugenia Krone  9 , Miriam Brice  10 , Erwan Berjonneau  11 , Soraia Matos  12 , Olivia Dialla  13 , Laure Guéroult-Accolas  14
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Patient perception on risk of recurrence and decision-making in the management of HER2-positive early breast cancer: Insights from the ASKHER2 European survey

Matteo Lambertini et al. Breast. 2025 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Perceived risk and fear of recurrence in patients with breast cancer (BC) is a matter of concern and may affect their health behaviours and their ability to participate in decision making during their treatment. This survey aimed to examine perceptions and concerns of patients with HER2+ BC.

Materials and methods: A multi-country, non-interventional, direct-to-patient online survey was conducted between July 22, 2022 and March 1, 2023 in six European countries using a multi-modal recruitment approach.

Results: Out of 622 included patients, 96.8 % desired involvement in treatment decisions, and 58.5 % felt they had significant influence in the decision-making process. A total of 20.9 % of patients were unaware of their personal risk of recurrence, and 19.5 % reported not discussing this risk with their healthcare providers. The fear of disease recurrence, death, and treatment failure were identified as the most important concerns. Moreover, 30.4 % perceived they had clear communication with healthcare providers on risk of recurrence. A total of 64.5 % were willing to take extra treatments, 60.2 % to undergo more surgery to reduce recurrence risk and 68.5 % were willing to accept further treatments even if recurrence risk decreased by less than 50 %.

Conclusion: Results of this multinational direct-to-patient study examining the perceptions and concerns of women with HER2+ breast cancer underscore the need for physicians to proactively involve patients in their decision-making process, enabling them to participate in a patient-centred approach during treatment decisions.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Communication; Decision making; HER2+; Intervention; Patient perception; Risk of recurrence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of study patients.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Worries and concerns about the health condition (N=622) (A) Difficult-to-manage side effects of breast cancer treatment. (B) Worries and concerns about the disease. (C) Worries and concerns about the treatment plan.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Early breast cancer patients' perceived risk of breast cancer recurrence and associated feelings (awareness) (eBC; N=527) (A) Perceived personal risk of breast cancer recurrence. (B) Patients' feelings when considering the risk of recurrence.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Patients' lifestyle and medical choices. (A) Preventive behaviors/changes to better manage the disease (N = 622). (B) Willingness of patients with early breast cancer to make lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of recurrence (eBC; N = 527).
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Acceptance of additional interventions and treatments to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence (N=622). (A) Acceptable efficacy for an additional treatment that reduces the recurrence risk. (B) Acceptable side effects for an additional treatment that reduces the recurrence risk. (C) Preventive behaviors to improve side effects of an additional treatment that reduces the recurrence risk.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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