Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, both based in Philadelphia, developed a text-messaging platform for the study, which aimed to reduce the level of “time toxicity” experienced by cancer patients, according to a Feb. 19 news release from Penn Medicine.
Here are three things to know from the study:
- Patients undergoing immunotherapy are required to have an in-office visit before every infusion to ensure there is no need to pause treatment.
For the study, 16 patients receiving single-agent immunotherapy for solid-tumor cancers completed a symptom check through text messaging prior to treatment, while 15 patients continued with standard in-person visits.
- Patients who bypassed the in-person check-in through text messaging saved more than 60 minutes per visit, including 30 minutes less wait time. There was no reported difference in post-infusion hospital visits or health-related quality of life between the two groups, the release said.
- “Patients with cancer spend an enormous amount of time engaging with the healthcare system, and for patients with advanced cancer in particular, that time is precious,” study author Ronac Mamtani, MD, section chief of genitourinary cancers at Penn Medicine, said in the release. “We developed a safe and effective platform that, for certain patients, could really challenge the status quo and give them quality time back.”
Read the full study here.