OBJECTIVES

In Finland, approximately 850 women annually die of advanced breast cancer (aBC). The subtype of aBC guide treatment decisions and is an essential prognostic factor. This study evaluated the subtype-related healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and survival among patients with aBC in Finland.

METHODS

The study was a retrospective cohort study utilizing real world secondary (specialist) care data during 2004−2016 from the Finnish Auria Biobank covering approximately 20% of the population in Finland. Adult female patients diagnosed with aBC between 2004−2013 were identified with ICD-10 code C50 (breast cancer) and through text mining algorithms, and the data were extracted until the end of 2016. Auria Biobank data were complemented with the patients’ electronic healthcare records of Turku University Central Hospital. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The results are presented by subtype: HR+/HER2-, HER2+, and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

RESULTS

A total of 444 patients with aBC were identified, with the mean age at diagnosis of 66.0 years (range 20.6−102.5). Overall, HR+/HER2-, HER2+, and TNBC were identified for 65%, 19%, and 6% of the patients, respectively. The average number of inpatient days per patient-year was 10.6 for HR+/HER2-, 9.1 for HER2+, and 27.3 for TNBC, respectively. The average number of outpatient visits per patient-year was 34.0 for HR+/HER2-, 48.6 for HER2+, and 55.6 for TNBC, respectively. Median OS was 22.6 months (95% CI: 19.4-25.6) for HR+/HER2-, 23.1 months (95% CI: 12.7-37.7) for HER2+, and 5.5 months (95% CI: 3.6-15.2) for TNBC.

CONCLUSIONS : TNBC patients had the highest resource use per patient-year and the shortest OS. The inpatient days per patient-year and the median OS did not differ markedly between HR+/HER2- and HER2+ patients. The generalizability of the results might be limited because the study describes only the patient population in Southwest Finland.