Abstract
Background: African-Americans have the highest overall cancer death rate and shortest survival time of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. The most common cancer studied in African-American radiation therapy (RT ) access disparities research is breast cancer. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of patient navigation on RT access for African-American breast cancer patients. Material and methods: This study is a prospective survey-based evaluation of the impact of patient navigation on access to hypofractionated RT and financial toxicity in African-American breast cancer patients. The impact of patient navigation on RT access will be collated and analyzed from survey results pre-RT versus post-RT as well as for patients with versus without receipt of patient navigation. The validated COST-Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy score will be used to compare hypofractionation versus standard fractionated RT financial toxicity for patients with early-stage breast cancer who have received lumpectomy. Conclusion: This is the first study to investigate the impact of patient navigation on reducing RT access disparities facing African-American breast cancer patients.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 583-588 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Reports of Practical Oncology and Radiotherapy |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2022 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Adjuvant radiation therapy
- African-american race
- Breast cancer
- Health disparities
- Hypofractionation
- Patient navigation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging