In the changing paradigm of cancer treatment, increasing numbers of people with cancer are now taking oral anticancer medications to treat and control their disease. These costly, long-term oral anticancer medications can be life-extending and are becoming standard of care for many types of cancers. However, nonadherence (i.e., delaying, not starting, taking more/less than prescribed, or stopping use) is a critically understudied issue that can dramatically affect cancer outcomes.
The reasons for poor adherence, the characteristics of those at risk for poor adherence, and the effects of poor adherence on health outcomes are poorly understood, particularly among patients with cancer. Also, the multi-level factors that affect adherence may be unique based on adherence phase, including initiation (time from prescription to first dose taken) and persistence (consistently taking the medication as prescribed).
Dr. Sarah Belcher’s timely and significant research in adherence to oral anticancer therapy directly addresses knowledge gaps needed to understand barriers to starting and consistently taking these therapies and how patients’ abilities to take their medications as prescribed affect equitable health outcomes.