Michigan Medicine Study Identifies Knowledge Gaps and Develops Strategies for Mitigating Financial Toxicity During Breast Cancer Treatment

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Aug. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cancer treatment can affect your ability to work and pay bills and as a result financial toxicity can become a significant concern and, in many cases, a reality for breast cancer patients. The Pink Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to breast cancer patients, worked with Michigan Medicine to provide access to patients who were previous recipients of The Pink Fund as the research team studied financial challenges in breast cancer patients and strategies to lessen them. Financial toxicity is used to describe how out-of-pocket health care costs, fees that are not covered by health insurance, can cause financial problems for a patient. Entitled "Financial Toxicity During Breast Cancer Treatment: A Qualitative Analysis to Inform Strategies for Mitigation," the study uncovered four knowledge gaps and subsequent strategies for breast cancer patients to mitigate financial toxicity. Also, The Pink Fund announced they have expanded their funding applications to include breast cancer patients who were not working at the time of diagnosis but whose spouse/partner was employed. Click here for a link to the financial toxicity study in breast cancer patients.

With patient expectations being a theme affecting financial toxicity found throughout the study, some of the key knowledge gaps identified include treatment expectations, provider conversations, identification of resources and support-finding. Thirty-two patients were interviewed, of which 58% were non-Hispanic White, with a mean age of 46 years. Diagnoses ranged from ductal carcinoma in situ to metastatic breast cancer. Concordant with an established framework, results of the study found that direct and indirect costs determined objective financial burden, and subjective financial distress stemmed from psychosocial, behavioral, and material impact of diagnosis and treatment. A key strategy for mitigating financial toxicity based on participant responses included leveraging support from decision aids and allied providers.

Senior study author Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., Newman Family Professor and deputy chair of radiation oncology at Michigan Medicine and director of the University of Michigan Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, said, "This work offers compelling detail about the causes and consequences of the heartbreaking financial toxicity experienced by women diagnosed with breast cancer. Actionable insights for how best to intervene to mitigate the impact of financial toxicity are best provided from women who have walked this path themselves. Women funded by The Pink Fund so generously provided their wisdom to us as researchers about what they wished they had known, what they wished had been done, and when, so that we now use that information to begin to change the factors within our control that drive the terrible problem of financial toxicity."

"Financial toxicity is an important unmet need in the treatment of breast cancer patients, and many patients going through financial difficulties will not adhere to treatment until they receive financial assistance putting their health at significant risk," said Molly MacDonald, founder of The Pink Fund and who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2005. "The results of this study will help us take the next patient-facing steps in meeting those needs." The Pink Fund provides 90-day nonmedical cost-of-living expenses to breast cancer patients in active treatment so they can focus on healing, raising their families and returning to the workplace. Each month, The Pink Fund provides between $60,000 and $85,000 in financial assistance to breast cancer patients. By the end of June 2021, The Pink Fund had provided $5 million in support to breast cancer patients in need.

"These findings are important because it shows us how we can use patient voices and insights to find solutions to thorny problems--when problems are as tough as financial toxicity, it often appears so daunting that researchers don't know where to start. We showed how asking patients about their experiences and placing these experiences within an empirical framework can point to strategies for mitigation. In conjunction with wider systems-level changes that focus on policy and insurance, research efforts focusing on our novel findings can work at the individual level to improve the experiences of patients that are dealing with cancer," said study first author Laila Gharzai, M.D., who completed the work as a fellow at Michigan Medicine and is now at Northwestern University.

Patients applying for support from The Pink Fund must currently be in treatment for breast cancer. For more information on applying for financial assistance from The Pink Fund, visit here.

About The Pink Fund
The mission of The Pink Fund is to mitigate the financial burdens of breast cancer patients in active treatment by providing a bridge between hardship and recovery via direct non-medical financial assistance, financial navigation, health literacy and education. The Pink Fund grant program helps patients and their families by making payments for critical nonmedical expenses such as housing, utilities, transportation and health insurance. Payments are made directly to creditors with a cap of up to $3000 for up to 90 days.

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SOURCE The Pink Fund