Palliative care use and end-of-life care quality in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer.

PURPOSE

Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is incurable, despite therapeutic advances, especially in hormone receptor positive (HR+) and human epidermal growth factor-2 negative (HER2-) disease. Specialist palliative care (SPC) is recommended to alleviate distress and reduce overly aggressive end-of-life (EoL) care. This study determined rates of SPC, hospice utilization, and aggressive EoL care in patients with HR+/HER2- MBC.

METHODS

A retrospective review was performed of patients with treatment naïve HR+/HER2- MBC treated with endocrine therapy and/or cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 inhibitors at Duke Cancer Institute between January 2012 and December 2017. Variables pertaining to SPC and hospice use and EoL care outcomes up to March 2024 were collected. SPC and hospice utilization and EoL care data were analyzed with descriptive statistics.

RESULTS

Of 102 patients, 85 died during the study period, and over half (55%) received aggressive EoL care. Half had some form of SPC, and rates of aggressive EoL care were comparable between those who engaged with SPC and those who did not. The most common indicators of aggressive EoL care included multiple ED visits (28%) and hospital admissions (23%) in the last 30 days of life as well as in-hospital location of death (24%). Although 72% enrolled in hospice care, 9% of patients were on hospice for ≤ 3 days.

CONCLUSION

This real-world study demonstrates that many patients with HR + /HER2- MBC receive aggressive EoL care despite some engaging with SPC and many enrolling in hospice. Interventions to decrease aggressive EoL care are needed for this population.