Articles

Germline Pathogenic Variants Among Women Without a History of Breast Cancer: A Secondary Analysis of the WISDOM Randomized Clinical Trial

Kirkpatrick B Fergus, Katherine S Ross, Maren T Scheuner, et al. JAMA Intern Med. 2026 Mar 1;186(3):344-352

Among 23 098 women who completed germline genetic testing (mean age, 54.3 years), 714 (3.1%) carried a PV. Excluding 109 who were previously aware of their PV, the detection rate was 2.6%. PVs were most common in CHEK2 (337) and ATM (101) but less common in higher-penetrance genes (BRCA1, 33; BRCA2, 82; PALB2, 44).... Read More

13 May, 2026

Age-related differences in employment, insurance, and financial hardship among colorectal cancer patients: a report from the ColoCare Study

Karely M van Thiel Berghuijs, Heydon K Kaddas, et al. J Cancer Surviv. 2024 Jun;18(3):1075-1084

Employment and financial hardships are common issues for working-age colorectal cancer patients. We surveyed colorectal cancer survivors to investigate employment, insurance, and financial outcomes by age at diagnosis. There were 202 participants who completed the survey (age: 18-49 (n = 42, 20.8%), 50-64 (n = 79,... Read More

13 May, 2026

Economic impact of screening on postdiagnosis work productivity in Japanese women with breast cancer: a life-table modeling approach

Yoshie Takatori-Shirakami, Mitsue Saito, Kazuhito Yokoyama. Breast Cancer. 2025 Jan;32(1):101-108

In Japan, biennial mammography screening has been recommended for the early detection of breast cancer (BC) in women aged 40 years or above since 2004 by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. We used a dynamic life table modeling approach to estimate the work productivity of female patients aged 40-64 years d... Read More

13 May, 2026

Financial Difficulty Over Time in Young Adults With Breast Cancer

Sara P Myers, Yue Zheng, Kate Dibble, Elizabeth A Mittendorf, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Nov 4;7(11):e2446091

Young adults aged 18 to 39 years represent the minority of breast cancer diagnoses but are particularly vulnerable to financial hardship. A total 1008 patients were included (median age at diagnosis, 36 years). Patients' tumors were primarily stage I-II (778), estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor-positive (754)... Read More

13 May, 2026

Impact of a Breast Cancer Diagnosis on Finances and Marital Status in Young Women

Tamara Hamlish, Michelle L Foster, Sarah Strom, et al. BMC Womens Health. 2025 Feb 25;25(1):86

We conducted descriptive statistical analysis of survey data from 315 women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 45. We found significant changes following diagnosis in employment and insurance. Prior to diagnosis, 68.6% of respondents were employed full time, compared to 52.4% following diagnosis. Individuals ... Read More

13 May, 2026

Exploring the economic impact of breast cancers during the 18 months following diagnosis

Louisa Gordon, Paul Scuffham, Sandi Hayes, Beth Newman. Psychooncology. 2007 Dec;16(12):1130-9

The economic impact on individuals with breast cancer is not well understood. We sought to identify and describe the direct and indirect economic losses to breast cancer survivors in Australia. A longitudinal, population-based study of 287 women was used to explore economic outcomes (costs and lost income) for wome... Read More

13 May, 2026

The productivity burden of breast cancer in Australia

Melanie Lloyd, Divya Bassi, Ella Zomer, Zanfina Ademi. Cancer Epidemiol. 2025 Feb:94:102726

Breast cancer exerts a considerable burden on an individual's health but also impacts society more broadly through lost work productivity. This study aimed to measure the quality of life and productivity burden among Australian females of working age diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022. Over a ten-year period from... Read More

13 May, 2026

What affects the public healthcare costs of breast cancer in New Zealand?

Chunhuan Lao, Mohana Mondal, Marion Kuper-Hommel, et al. Asia Pac J Clin Oncol. 2023 Aug;19(4):482-492

This study aims to identify the factors that affect the public healthcare costs of stage I-III breast cancer and stage IV cancer in New Zealand. We identified 16,977 stage I-III and 1,093 stage IV breast cancer patients eligible for this study. The costs of stage I-III cancer in the second to fifth year post diagn... Read More

13 May, 2026

Global treatment costs of breast cancer by stage: A systematic review

Li Sun, Rosa Legood, Isabel Dos-Santos-Silva, et al. PLoS One. 2018 Nov 26;13(11):e0207993

This study aimed to conduct a systematic review to compare treatment costs of breast cancer by stage at diagnosis across countries at different levels of socio-economic development, and to identify key methodological differences in costing approaches. Twenty studies were included, 15 from high-income countries and... Read More

13 May, 2026

Results from a prospective longitudinal survey of employment and work outcomes in newly diagnosed cancer patients during and after curative-intent chemotherapy: A Wisconsin Oncology Network study

Amye J Tevaarwerk, Kris Kwekkeboom, Kevin A Buhr, et al. Cancer. 2021 Mar 1;127(5):801-808

Post cancer work limitations may affect a substantial proportion of patients and contribute to the "financial toxicity" of cancer treatment. The degree and nature of work limitations and employment outcomes are poorly understood for cancer patients, particularly in the immediate period of transition after active t... Read More

13 May, 2026