Trial results posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2025-09-16 for a study assessing the time demands of cancer revealed that patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer spent a median of 404 minutes per week on all cancer-related care tasks.
Background
Living with and managing cancer, particularly metastatic or advanced-stage disease, imposes significant time demands on patients beyond direct medical appointments. These demands include time spent on self-care, medication management, travel to appointments, coordination of care, and managing symptoms. Understanding the full scope of this time burden is crucial for healthcare providers, patient advocates, and policymakers to develop more supportive care strategies and to accurately assess the true cost and impact of cancer on patients' daily lives. Quantifying these time commitments can help in designing interventions that alleviate patient burden and improve quality of life.
Trial design
This study, titled "Assessing the Time Demands of Cancer," enrolled 78 participants who were receiving treatment for Metastatic Breast Cancer or Ovarian Cancer. The trial aimed to quantify the time patients spend on various cancer-related care tasks. Participants were asked to complete a baseline survey, install a mobile app on their smartphone, carry the smartphone for 28 consecutive days while outside the home, and keep location and motion services active. They were also required to confirm and correct smartphone-detected activities and trips, use the app to provide additional information on cancer treatment-related tasks, and complete daily well-being surveys. At the end of the 28-day period, participants completed a final survey.
Key results
The trial provided several key measurements regarding the time demands of cancer care for the study cohort:
- The median time spent on cancer-related care tasks at home was 196 minutes per week.
- The median time spent on all cancer-related care tasks, encompassing both out-of-home and at-home activities, was 404 minutes per week.
- The mean number of out-of-home cancer-related healthcare encounters was 4.9 episodes per month, with a Standard Deviation of 3.1.
What this means
The results highlight the substantial time commitment required from patients managing metastatic breast cancer and ovarian cancer. A median of 404 minutes per week, or nearly 7 hours, dedicated to all cancer-related care tasks, underscores a significant burden that extends far beyond direct clinical visits. This includes time spent on at-home care, which accounts for a median of 196 minutes per week. The average of 4.9 out-of-home healthcare encounters per month further illustrates the frequent need for patients to travel to and attend appointments. These findings provide concrete data that can inform healthcare planning, support services, and policy development, emphasizing the need for strategies that acknowledge and potentially mitigate the extensive time demands placed on patients with advanced cancer.
Source
The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT05708703, titled "Assessing the Time Demands of Cancer," were posted on 2025-09-16 on clinicaltrials.gov.