Implementation of a nurse-enabled, shared-care follow-up model for early breast cancer survivors (The IBIS-Survivorship Study) (Status: Ongoing)

Project details

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia with an estimated 19,535 new cases in 2019. Advances in early cancer detection and anti-cancer treatments mean the 5-year relative survival rate for early breast cancer is now upwards of 90%. As such, it is increasingly important that the care of breast cancer survivors focuses on identifying recurrence and new cancers, encouraging survivors to adhere to adjuvant endocrine therapy and managing any long-term holistic care needs such as biological, psychological and social effects from their cancer diagnosis and treatment. The current models of survivorship care are mostly specialist-driven and focus on surveillance activities; however, there is a strong case for an integrated, shared follow-up care model for early breast cancer involving cancer specialists and GPs.

For patients who have completed primary treatment for early breast cancer, the objectives of this study are to:

To assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a nurse-coordinated shared, follow-up model of care (IBIS-Survivorship) compared to usual care (i.e. specialist-led follow-up care) for people who have completed treatment for early breast cancer.

This study is a multi-centre, prospective, pragmatic, stepped-wedge cluster-RCT design that will evaluate IBIS-Survivorship. The trial design involves the sequential rollout of IBIS-Survivorship to each of the cancer centres in a randomly allocated order within the study period, with cancer centres progressively “crossing over” from the control group. Participants who are recruited from a participating site which has been randomised to IBIS-Survivorship phase will receive a multi-faceted intervention that includes a pre-specified shared-care pathway for post-treatment follow-up.

For more information, please contact lead PI- Professor Raymond Chan