Increasing oncology patient engagement in treatment decisions: a CNL driven educational approach

Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Montana affecting 40% of men and 38% of women (MCTR, 2019). In the state of Montana Cancer is attributed to 452 new cancer cases per every 100,000 people, or one in every four persons (MCTR, 2019). Current best practice treatment options for cancer include chemotherapy and biosimilar medications of chemotherapy also known as Biologicals. Biosimilar medication is a product that contains a similar but not identical, version of an active compound of that of the originator medication authorized by the FDA for treatment of cancer (Edwards and Bellinvia, 2020). A literature review was conducted containing fifteen journal articles that included: four systemic reviews, a randomized double-blind study, two observational studies, and one retrospective study. When evaluating the information gathered, it was clear that due to the recent development and lack of public knowledge of biosimilars there is missing and unknown information. The missing information could alter the education needed and topics patients may want to know in an educational program. The plan for this quality improvement project is to create an educational program for biosimilars in oncology offices for providers to use with patients that may need to switch to a biosimilar in their treatment plan and allow for increase patient outcome and safety.