Abstract PS5-11-26: Financial Toxicity and Patterns of Severe Symptom Burden in Patients with Breast Cancer Informed by Digital Remote Symptom Monitoring (RSM) Deployed in Clinical Practice

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Authors: Emelly Rusli, Aaron Galaznik, Debra M Wujcik
Cited by: 0

Abstract

Abstract Background The negative effects of medical costs on patients, referred to as financial toxicity (FT), are associated with decreased quality of life, increased distress, and lower adherence to treatment (Lee 2025). Patients with breast cancer (BC) are at risk of poor financial outcomes (Huang 2024) as BC requires multimodal treatments. A recent JCO: Oncology Practice series underscored the need for highlighting patient experience and encouraged innovation to address FT across subgroups (Chino 2025). Digital remote symptom monitoring (RSM) platforms, with electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs)-driven alerts and baseline FT screening, provide a unique means to explore FT and outcomes. This study evaluated baseline FT and its association with severe symptom burden in women with BC informed by RSM deployed in clinical practice. Methods Patients with BC who enrolled in Carevive PROmpt®, a digital RSM platform, between 9/2020 and 5/2025 were included. Patients completed Comprehensive Score of Financial Toxicity (COST) at baseline, a 12-item survey with five-point Likert scale (“Not at all” to “Very much”). High FT (HFT) was defined as scores 24. Patients completed weekly symptom (SX) reports measured by PRO-CTCAE®. Composite scores rated the SXs as mild, moderate, and severe, where moderate and severe SXs generated “alert” notifications to the care team. Baseline characteristics were described and compared by FT status. Severe symptom burden, defined as number of alerts per week and time to first alert, was analyzed. Multivariate analyses to assess the correlation between FT and severe symptom burden were conducted, with covariates including age, race, and frailty status. Results A total of 197 patients were included and stratified by HFT (n=101) and LFT (n=96). Overall median FT score was 24, median age was 54, 30.5% Non-white (57 Black, 3 Asian), and 49.2% late-stage disease. Median age of HFT group was younger than LFT (50 vs 61.5, p

Fields of Study & Subjects

Economic and Financial Impacts of Cancer Cancer survivorship and care Cancer-related cognitive impairment studies

Publication details

Journal / source
Clinical Cancer Research
Volume
32
Issue
4_Supplement
Pages
PS5–11
Publication date
17 February 2026
Language
EN