Tanja Spanic, Executive Director of Europa Donna Slovenia, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“New publication exploring an important and often overlooked aspect of cancer care – the patient journey.
Our paper, ‘Understanding the patient journey: Barriers, facilitators, and expectations in joining a chemotherapy de-escalation trial among premenopausal patients with breast cancer’, looks beyond clinical outcomes and focuses on what truly shapes patients’ decisions to participate in clinical trials.
For many young women with breast cancer, joining a de-escalation trial is not just a medical decision — it is emotional, complex, and deeply personal. Understanding these perspectives is essential if we want to design trials that are not only scientifically sound, but also accessible and meaningful for patients.
This work is part of the EU-funded Path-for-Young project, which aims to improve care and outcomes for young breast cancer patients across Europe. As patient advocates we contribute to research that brings the patient voice into the center of clinical innovation. We need more evidence like this to reduce barriers, build trust, and ensure that progress in treatment truly reflects patients’ needs and expectations.
Grateful to all co-authors and partners for this collaboration.”
Title: Understanding the patient journey: Barriers, facilitators, and expectations in joining a chemotherapy de-escalation trial among premenopausal patients with breast cancer
Authors: Petya Zyumbileva, Tanja Spanic, Emma Gillanders, Elise Martin, Marzia Zambon, Maria Connolly, Maria Dutarte, Enrico Tricanico, Carmela Caballero, Sarra El-Abed, Janet Dunn, Isabelle Merckaert, Iain R. Macpherson, Aure Vanhecke, Ines Vaz-Luis, Maria Alice Franzoi
Read the Full Article on The Breast.
