Rebecca A Marmor1, Wenrui Dai2, Xiaoqian Jiang2, Shuang Wang2, Sarah L Blair3, Jina Huh2. 1. Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California; Division of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California. Electronic address: rmarmor@ucsd.edu. 2. Division of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California. 3. Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The increased uptake of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) among breast cancer patients remains poorly understood. We hypothesized that the increased rate of CPM is represented in conversations on an online breast cancer community and may contribute to patients choosing this operation. METHODS: We downloaded 328,763 posts and their dates of creation from an online breast cancer community from August 1, 2000, to May 22, 2016. We then performed a keyword search to identify posts which mentioned breast cancer surgeries: contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (n = 7095), mastectomy (n = 10,889), and lumpectomy (n = 9694). We graphed the percentage of CPM-related, lumpectomy-related, and mastectomy-related conversations over time. We also graphed the frequency of posts which mentioned multiple operations over time. Finally, we performed a qualitative study to identify factors influencing the observed trends. RESULTS: Surgically related posts (e.g., mentioning at least one operation) made up a small percentage (n = 27,678; 8.4%) of all posts on this community. The percentage of surgically related posts mentioning CPM was found to increase over time, whereas the percentage of surgically related posts mentioning mastectomy decreased over time. Among posts that mentioned more than one operation, mastectomy and lumpectomy were the procedures most commonly mentioned together, followed by mastectomy and CPM. There was no change over time in the frequency of posts that mentioned more than one operation. Our qualitative review found that most posts mentioning a single operation were unrelated to surgical decision-making; rather the operation was mentioned only in the context of the patient's cancer history. Conversely, the most posts mentioning multiple operations centered around the patients' surgical decision-making process. CONCLUSIONS: CPM-related conversation is increasing on this online breast cancer community, whereas mastectomy-related conversation is decreasing. These results appear to be primarily informed by patients reporting the types of operations they have undergone, and thus appear to correspond to the known increased uptake of CPM.
BACKGROUND: The increased uptake of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) among breast cancerpatients remains poorly understood. We hypothesized that the increased rate of CPM is represented in conversations on an online breast cancer community and may contribute to patients choosing this operation. METHODS: We downloaded 328,763 posts and their dates of creation from an online breast cancer community from August 1, 2000, to May 22, 2016. We then performed a keyword search to identify posts which mentioned breast cancer surgeries: contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (n = 7095), mastectomy (n = 10,889), and lumpectomy (n = 9694). We graphed the percentage of CPM-related, lumpectomy-related, and mastectomy-related conversations over time. We also graphed the frequency of posts which mentioned multiple operations over time. Finally, we performed a qualitative study to identify factors influencing the observed trends. RESULTS: Surgically related posts (e.g., mentioning at least one operation) made up a small percentage (n = 27,678; 8.4%) of all posts on this community. The percentage of surgically related posts mentioning CPM was found to increase over time, whereas the percentage of surgically related posts mentioning mastectomy decreased over time. Among posts that mentioned more than one operation, mastectomy and lumpectomy were the procedures most commonly mentioned together, followed by mastectomy and CPM. There was no change over time in the frequency of posts that mentioned more than one operation. Our qualitative review found that most posts mentioning a single operation were unrelated to surgical decision-making; rather the operation was mentioned only in the context of the patient's cancer history. Conversely, the most posts mentioning multiple operations centered around the patients' surgical decision-making process. CONCLUSIONS: CPM-related conversation is increasing on this online breast cancer community, whereas mastectomy-related conversation is decreasing. These results appear to be primarily informed by patients reporting the types of operations they have undergone, and thus appear to correspond to the known increased uptake of CPM.
Authors: Yeliz Cemal; Claudia R Albornoz; Joseph J Disa; Colleen M McCarthy; Babak J Mehrara; Andrea L Pusic; Peter G Cordeiro; Evan Matros Journal: Plast Reconstr Surg Date: 2013-03 Impact factor: 4.730
Authors: Sarah T Hawley; Reshma Jagsi; Monica Morrow; Nancy K Janz; Ann Hamilton; John J Graff; Steven J Katz Journal: JAMA Surg Date: 2014-06 Impact factor: 14.766
Authors: Shoshana M Rosenberg; Michaela S Tracy; Meghan E Meyer; Karen Sepucha; Shari Gelber; Judi Hirshfield-Bartek; Susan Troyan; Monica Morrow; Lidia Schapira; Steven E Come; Eric P Winer; Ann H Partridge Journal: Ann Intern Med Date: 2013-09-17 Impact factor: 25.391
Authors: Joshua Fogel; Steven M Albert; Freya Schnabel; Beth Ann Ditkoff; Alfred I Neugut Journal: J Med Internet Res Date: 2002 Apr-Nov Impact factor: 5.428
Authors: Meghana G Shamsunder; Hina Panchal; Melissa Pilewskie; Clara Lee; Shantanu N Razdan; Evan Matros Journal: J Am Coll Surg Date: 2021-08-23 Impact factor: 6.532