Purpose

The current number of breast cancer survivors (BCS) in the United States is approximately 3.8 million, and this number is further expected to increase with improvement in treatments. Survivorship care plans (SCPs) are patient-centered tools that are designed to meet cancer survivors' informational needs about their treatment history, recommended health care, and health maintenance. However, the data on SCP benefits remain uncertain, especially in low-income and racial and ethnic minority cancer survivors. Patient navigation is an effective intervention to improve patient adherence and experience of interdisciplinary breast cancer treatment.

Objectives

This study sought to understand the role of lay patient navigators (LPN) in survivorship care planning for BCS in safety-net settings.

Methods

This study is a mixed methods pilot randomized clinical trial to understand the role of patient navigation in cancer survivorship care planning in a public hospital. We invited BCS who had completed active breast cancer treatment within 5 years. LPNs discussed survivorship care planning and survivorship care-related issues with BCS in the intervention arm over a 6-month intervention period and accompanied patients to their primary care appointment. LPNs also encouraged survivors to discuss health care issues with oncology and primary care providers. The primary objective was to assess BCS' health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The secondary objectives were self-efficacy and implementation. We assessed implementation with 45-60-min semi-structured interviews with 15 BCS recruited from the intervention arm and 60-min focus groups with the oncologists and separately with LPNs.

Results

We enrolled 40 patients, 20 randomized to usual care and 20 randomized to LPN navigation. We did not find a statistically significant difference between the two arms in HRQOL. There was also no difference in self-efficacy between the two arms. Qualitative analysis identified implementation barriers to intervention that may have contributed to less effective intervention.

Implications for cancer survivors

Future survivorship care planning interventions need to consider: Cancer survivors' needs and preferences, the need for dedicated resources, and the role of electronic health records in survivorship care plan delivery.