Adherence to adjuvant therapy in post-menopausal breast cancer patients: A review

European Journal of Cancer Care

Volumn 21, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 10-19

  Banning, M ^a  

^a BRUNEL UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Adjuvant therapy; Breast cancer; Medicines; Non adherence; Older women; Oncology; Post menopause; Side effects

Indexed keywords

ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENT;

ADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY; BREAST TUMOR; FEMALE; HUMAN; PATIENT COMPLIANCE; POSTMENOPAUSE; REVIEW;

ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS; BREAST NEOPLASMS; CHEMOTHERAPY, ADJUVANT; FEMALE; HUMANS; MEDICATION ADHERENCE; POSTMENOPAUSE;

EID: 84155164072     PISSN: 09615423     EISSN: 13652354     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2354.2011.01295.x     Document Type: Review

References (50)

1. Arimidex, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination (ATAC) Trialist's Group (2008) Effect of anastrozole and tamoxifen as adjuvant treatment for early-stage breast cancer: 100 month analysis of the ATAC trial. The Lancet Oncology 9, 45-53.
2. Atkins L. & Fallowfield L. (2006) Intentional and non-intentional non-adherence to medication amongst breast cancer patients. European Journal of Cancer 42, 2271-2276.
3. Balkrishnan R. (1998) Predictors of medication adherence in the elderly. Clinical Therapeutics 20, 764-771.
4. Banning M. (2008) Older people and adherence with medication: a review of the literature. International Journal of Nursing Studies 45, 1550-1561.
5. Banning M. (2009) A review of interventions used to improve adherence with medication in older people. International Journal of Nursing Studies 46, 1505-1515.
6. Baum M., Budzar A.U. & Cuzick J. (2002) Anastrozole alone or in combination with tamoxifen alone for adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal women with early breast cancer: first results of the ATAC randomised trial. Lancet 359, 1213-2139.
7. Body J.J. (2010) Prevention and treatment of side-effects of systemic treatment: bone loss. Annals of Oncology 21 (Suppl. 7), 180-185.
8. Braddock C.H., Fihn S.D., Levinson W., Jonsen A.R. & Pearlman R.A. (1997) How doctors and patients discuss routine clinical decisions. Informed decision making in the outpatient setting. Journal of General Internal Medicine 12, 339-345.
9. Carpenter R. (2008) Choosing early adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer: aromatise inhibitors versus tamoxifen. European Journal of Surgical Oncology 34, 746-755.
10. Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) (1998) Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Collaboration for Qualitative Methodologies. Available at: (accessed 1 October 2010).
11. Cella D., Fallowfield L., Barker P., Cuzick J., Locker G. & Howell A., on behalf of the ATAC Trialists' Group (2006) Quality of life of postmenopausal women in the ATAC ('Arimidex' tamoxifen, alone or in combination) trial after completion of 5 years' adjuvant treatment for early breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 100, 273-284.
12. Chlebowski R.T. & Geller M.L. (2006) Adherence to endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Oncology 71, 1-9.
13. Coates A.S., Keshaviah A., Thurlmann B., Mouridsen H., Mauriac L., Forbes J.R., Paridaens R., Castiglione-Gerisch M., Gelber R.D., Colleoni M., Lang I., Delmastro L., Smith I., Chirgwim J., Nogaret J.M., Pienkowski T., Wardley A., Jakobsen E.H., Price K.N. & Goldhirsch A. (2007) Five years of letrozole compared with tamoxifen as initial adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal women with endocrine - responsive early breast cancer: update of study BIG1-98. Journal of Clinical Oncology 25, 486-492.
14. Colozza M., Califano R., Minenza E., Dinh P. & Azambuja E. (2008) Aromatase inhibitors: a new reality for the adjuvant endocrine treatment of early stage breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 8, 564-574.
15. CONSORT (2010) Checklist of Information to Include When Reporting a Randomised Trial. Available at: (accessed 11 October 2010).
16. Coombs R.C., Hall E. & Gibson L.G.. (2004) A randomised trial of exemestane after two or three years of tamoxifen therapy in postmenopausal women with primary breast cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine 350, 1081-1092.
17. Davidson B., Vogel V. & Wickerham L. (2007) Oncologist-patient discussion of adjuvant hormonal therapy ion breast cancer: results of a linguistic study focusing on adherence and persistence to therapy. The Journal of Supportive Oncology 5, 139-143.
18. De Jong F., Sparreboom A., Verweij J. & Mathijssen R. (2008) Lifestyle habits as a contributor to anti-cancer treatment failure. European Journal of Cancer 44, 374-382.
19. Demissie S., Silliman R. & Lash T.L. (2001) Adjuvant tamoxifen: predictors of use effects, and discontinuation in older women. Journal of Clinical Oncology 19, 322-328.
20. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) (2005) Effects of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy for early breast cancer on recurrence and 15-year survival: an overview of the randomised trials. Lancet 365, 1687-1717.
21. Ell K., Vourlekis B., Xie B., Hedjat-Haiem F.R., Lee P.J., Muderspach L., Russell C. & Palinkas L.A. (2009) Cancer treatment adherence among low-income women with breast or gynaecologic cancer. Cancer 115, 4606-4015.
22. Fink A.A., Gurwitz J., Rabowski W., Guadagnolie E. & Silliman R.A. (2004) Patient beliefs and tamoxifen discontinuance in older women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 22, 3309-3315.
23. Fisher B., Dignam J. & Bryant J. (1996) Five versus more than five years of tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer patients with negative lymph nodes and estrogen receptor positive tumours. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 88, 1529-1542.
24. Forbes J.F., Cuzick J., Buzdar A., Howell A., Tobias J.S. & Baum M. (2008) Effect of anastrozole and tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy for early stage breast cancer: 100-month analysis of the ATAC trial. The Lancet Oncology 9, 45-53.
25. Gail M.H., Costantion J.P., Bryant J., Croyle R., Freedman L., Heszlsouer K. & Vogel V.J. (1999) Weighing the risks and benefits of Tamoxifen treatment for preventing breast cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 91, 1829-1846.
26. Goldman D.P., Joyce G.F. & Zheng Y. (2007) Prescription drug cost sharing: associations with medication and medical utilisation and spending and health. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 298, 61-69.
27. Goss P.E., Ingle J.N., Martino S., Robert N.J., Muss H.B., Piccart M.J., Castiglione M., Tu D., Shepherd L.E., Pritchard I., Livingston R.B., Davidson N.E., Norton L., Perez E.A., Abrams J.S., Cameron D.A., Palmer M.J. & Pater J.L. (2005) Randomised trial of letrozole following tamoxifen as extended adjuvant therapy in receptor-positive breast cancer: updated findings from the NCIC CTG MA.17. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 97, 1262-1271.
28. Grunfeld E.A., Hunter M.S., Sikka P. & Mittal S. (2005) Adherence beliefs among breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen. Adherence beliefs among breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen. Patient Education and Counseling 59, 97-102.
29. Güth U., Huang D.J., Schodouble acutetzau A., Zanetti-Dällenach R., Holzgreve W., Bitzer J. & Wight E. (2008) Target and reality of adjuvant endocrine therapy in postmenopausal patients with invasive breast cancer. British Journal of Cancer 99, 428-433.
30. Hadji P. (2010) Improving compliance and persistence to adjuvant tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitor therapy. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology 73, 156-166.
31. Hershman D.L., Shao T., Kushi L.H., Buono D., Tsai W.Y., Fehrenbacher L., Kwan M., Gomez S.L. & Neugut A.I. (2011) Early discontinuation and non-adherence to adjuvant hormonal therapy are associated with increased mortality in women with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 126, 529-537. doi: 10.1007/s10549-010011342-4.
32. Horne R. & Weinman J. (1999) Patients' beliefs about prescribed medicines and their role in adherence to treatment in chronic physical illness. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 47, 555-567.
33. Ingle J.N., Dowsett M., Cuzick J. & Davies C. (2009) Aromatase inhibitors versus tamoxifen alone for adjuvant therapy treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer: meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials of monotherapy and switching strategies. Cancer Research 69 (2 Suppl.), 66s.
34. Jahanzeb M. (2007) Reducing the risk for breast cancer recurrence after completion of tamoxifen treatment in postmenopausal women. Clinical Therapeutics 29, 1535-1547.
35. Jakesz R., Jonat W., Gnant M., Muttboeck M., Griel R., Tausch C., Hilrich J., Kwasy K., Menzel C., Samonigg H., Seifert M., Gademann G. & Kaufmann M. on behalf of the ABCSG and the GARB (2005) Switching of postmenopausal women with endocrine responsive early breast cancer to anastrozole after 2 years' adjuvant tamoxifen: combined results of ABCSG trials 8 and ARNO 95 trial. Lancet 366, 455-462.
36. Kennecke H., McArthur H., Olivotto I.A., Spears C., Badjdik C., Chia S.K., Ellards S., Norris B., Hayes M., Bennett J. & Gelmon K.A. (2008) Risk of early recurrence among postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive early breast cancer treated with adjuvant tamoxifen. Cancer 112, 1437-1444.
37. Lash T.L., Fox M.P., Westrup J.L., Fink A.K. & Silliman R.A. (2006) Adherence to tamoxifen over the five year course. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 99, 215-220.
38. Owusu C., Buist D.S.M., Field T.S., Lash T., Thwin S.S., Gieger A.M., Quinn V.P., Frost F., Prout M., Yood M.U., Wei F. & Silliman R.A. (2008) Predictors of tamoxifen discontinuation among older women with estrogen receptor- positive breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 26, 549-555.
39. Partridge A.H., Avorn J., Wang P.S. & Winer E.P. (2002) Adherence to therapy with oral antineoplastic agents. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 94, 652-661.
40. Partridge A.H., Wang P.S., Winer E.P. & Avorn J. (2003) Nonadherence to adjuvant tamoxifen therapy in women with primary breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 21, 602-606.
41. Partridge A.H., LaFountain S., Mayer E., Taylor B.S., Winer E. & Asais-Alibozek A. (2008) Adherence to initial adjuvant anastrozole therapy among women with early stage breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 26, 556-562.
42. Ponzone R., Mininanni P., Cassina E., Pastrorino F. & Sismondi P. (2008) Aromatase inhibitors for breast cancer: different structures, same effects? Endocrine-Related Cancer 15, 27-36.
43. Ruddy K., Mayer E. & Partridge A. (2009) Patient adherence and persistence with oral anticancer treatment. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 59, 56-66.
44. Sedjo R.L. & Devine S. (2011) Predictors of non-adherence to aromatase inhibitors among commercially insured women with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 125, 191-200.
45. Silliman R.A., Guadagnoli E., Rakowski W., Landrum M.B., Lash T.L., Wolf R., Fink A., Ganz P.A., Gurwitz J., Borbas C. & Mor V. (2002) Adjuvant tamoxifen prescription in women 65 years and older with primary breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 20, 2680-2688.
46. Siminoff L.A. & Fetting J.K. (1991) Factors affecting treatment decisions for a life-threatening illness: the case of medical treatment of breast cancer. Social Science and Medicine 32, 813-818.
47. Tominaga T., Kimijinma I., Kimura M., Takatsuka Y, Takashima S., Nowura Y., Kasumi F., Yamgichi A., Masada N., Noguchi S. & Eshima N. (2010) Effects of toremifene and tamoxifen on lipid profiles in post memopausal patients with early breast cancer: interim results from a Japanese phase III trial. Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 40, 627-633.
48. Winer E.P., Hudis C. & Bernstein H.J. (2005) American Society of Clinical Oncology technology assessment on the use of aromatase inhibitors as adjuvant therapy for postmeonopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer: status report 2004. Journal of Clinical Oncology 23, 619-629.
49. Wong N.A., Pal S.K. & Hurria A. (2010) Oncologists' recommendations for adjuvant therapy in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients of varying age and health status. Clinical Breast Cancer 10, 136-143.
50. Ziller V., Kalder M., Albert U.S., Holzhauer A.W., Ziller M., Wagner U. & Hadji P. (2009) Adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Annals of Oncology 20, 431-436.