S1489
Interdisciplinary - Patient involvement
ESTRO 2026
Quality of Life Issues Raised by Healthcare Professionals and Patients Shivani Verma 1 , Christina Yang 1 , Britney Zhang 1 , Shely Kagan 1 , Sarah Bayrakdarian 1 , Caroline Hircock 2 , Shing Fung Lee 3,4 , Agata Rembielak 5,6 , Juan I Arraras 7 , Vesna Bjelic-Radisic 8 , Panagiotis Kapsalis 9 , Yuichiro Kikawa 10 , Vasileios Kouloulias 9 , Gustavo N Marta 11,12 , Nora Nevries 8 , Mami Ogita 13 , Daniel de Sousa Miragaia de Oliveira 11 , Jennifer Steinmetz 8 , Kaori Tane 14 , Paula Tur 15 , Edward Chow 1 , Henry C Y Wong 16 1 Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada. 2 Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. 3 Department of Radiation Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore, Singapore. 4 Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Singapore, Singapore. 5 Department of Clinical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom. 6 Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. 7 Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Universitario de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. 8 Breast Unit, Helios University Hospital, Witten, Germany. 9 Radiotherapy Unit, 2nd Department of Radiology, ATTIKON University Hospital, Athens, Greece. 10 Department of Breast Surgery, Kansai Medical University Hospital, Hirakata, Japan. 11 Department of Radiation Oncology, Hospital Sírio- Libanês, São Paulo, Brazil. 12 Postgraduate Program, Department of Radiology and Oncology, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. 13 Department of Radiology, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. 14 Department of Breast Surgery, Hyogo Cancer Center, Hyogo, Japan. 15 Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom. 16 Department of Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong S.A.R., China Purpose/Objective: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a common breast malignancy confined to the breast and, unlike invasive breast cancer, does not metastasize. Existing generic and breast cancer–specific quality-of-life (QoL) instruments may not adequately capture concerns unique to DCIS, particularly those related to prognosis, decision-making, and treatment burden. This study presents findings from an EORTC Quality of Life Group (QLG) initiative aimed at identifying DCIS-specific QoL issues, representing the initial phase in developing a dedicated measurement module. Material/Methods: This study followed Phase I procedures of the EORTC QLG module-development guidelines. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify potential QoL issues relevant to DCIS. These issues were then evaluated by healthcare professionals
(HCPs) and patients through semi-structured qualitative interviews, with participants rating issue relevance on a 1 (“not at all”) to 4 (“very much”) scale. Patients also rated the relevance of selected items from the EORTC QLQ-BR42. For each issue, mean relevance, prevalence, priority rankings, and top-10 selections were calculated. Predefined thresholds guided issue selection. Issues meeting only two of four thresholds were considered borderline; for these, HCP ratings were additionally reviewed and required to meet at least three thresholds. Results: The literature review identified 16 potential QoL issues across physical, functional, and psychosocial domains (Table 1). Forty-two HCPs from five countries participated, with mean relevance scores ranging from 2.6 to 3.6, prevalence from 81% to 98%, and priority votes from 52% to 95%. HCPs represented a range of professions, including physicians (45%), registered nurses (10%), and social workers (5%). Ninety-two patients from five countries were recruited, with mean relevance scores ranging from 1.9 to 3.1, prevalence from 29% to 92%, and priority votes from 52% to 97%. Patients had undergone breast-conserving surgery (76.1%) with or without adjuvant therapy, mastectomy (20.6%) with or without reconstruction, or under surveillance (3.3%). Based on combined patient and HCP input, eight issues met all thresholds for inclusion (Table 2). Patients rated items from the “systemic chemotherapy side effects” and “hand/feet symptoms/neuropathy” scales of the QLQ-BR42 as irrelevant.
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