Table 3.
Primary reasons for treatment discontinuation – from chart review
| Primary reason for treatment discontinuation | First line (N = 220a) | Second line (N = 236a) | Third line (N = 113a) |
|---|---|---|---|
| n, (%) | n, (%) | n, (%) | |
| Disease progression | 168 (76.4%) | 169 (71.6%) | 57 (50.4%) |
| Total completion of treatment | 31 (14.1%) | 30 (12.7%) | 7 (6.2%) |
| Toxicities or side effects | 14 (6.4%) | 8 (3.4%) | 7 (6.2%) |
| Patient choice (non-financial) | 4 (1.8%) | 8 (3.4%) | 5 (4.4%) |
| Financial reasons | 1 (0.5%) | 1 (0.4%) | 1 (0.9%) |
| Drug resistance | 2 (0.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.9%) |
| Patient physical status | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.8%) | 1 (0.9%) |
| Death related to mBC | 0 (0.0%) | 5 (2.1%) | 3 (2.7%) |
| Death not related to mBC | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.8%) | 1 (0.9%) |
| Treatment still ongoing | 0 (0.0%) | 11 (4.7%) | 30 (26.5%) |
There were more agents than patients per line (e.g. 220 agents vs. 178 patients in first line) as physicians were asked to provide reasons of discontinuation for every single agent rather than for every therapy
mBC metastatic breast cancer
aNumber of agents