Background:
In 2024, around 7,900 people are living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in NSW alone[1]. In the past ten years, the natural history of breast cancer has evolved in context of a rapidly changing treatment landscape, with numerous PBS approved therapies and clinical trials available to patients. Despite these advances, MBC remains an incurable disease requiring complex management and multi-disciplinary involvement. Understanding of real-world management patterns and outcomes is vital to enhancing patient care and improving survivorship. There is no comprehensive state or national database documenting treatment approaches and outcomes for MBC.
Methods:
All patients with a diagnosis MBC receiving treatment at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre between January 2018 and December 2023 were enrolled. Retrospective data was captured in REDCap, including demographics, details of diagnosis and progression, histopathology, sites of disease, lines of treatment, utilisation of drug access programs, screening for clinical trials, genetic testing results and referral to supportive care.
Results:
A cohort of 267 patients were enrolled and interim analysis performed on the first 50 patients enrolled, who were diagnosed with MBC between 2015 and 2023. 32% were de novo metastatic and 68% had relapsed disease. The median age at metastatic diagnosis was 59 years, and median time from initial breast cancer diagnosis to metastatic relapse was 7.54 years. Treatment patterns and survival outcomes will be presented by clinical and pathological subtypes. 60% of patients were screened for a clinical trial and 30% were referred to Palliative Care.
Conclusions:
This registry will elucidate understanding of real-world treatment patterns and clinical outcomes for patients with MBC in the Australian context. To date, approximately 40% of patients enrolled in this study have also consented to the inclusion of tissue samples in a breast cancer ‘biobank’, providing a unique opportunity to synthesize both molecular pathology and clinical analysis.