OBJECTIVE: This study aims to objectively assess knowledge, competence, and performance among HCPs following participation in 2 EBC-focused CME activities and to identify the remaining educational gaps.
METHODS: We developed 2 CME-accredited web-based educational activities addressing high-risk EBC, including integration of shared decision-making to optimize patient care (touchMDT) and stratification for early identification of high-risk patients and novel treatment strategies (touchPANEL DISCUSSION). Knowledge, competence, and performance were assessed before and after the activities against an expanded outcomes framework (levels 1-5) using self-reported questionnaires and an analysis of anonymized data extracted from patient records.
RESULTS: Six months after the launch of the activity, 7047 and 8989 HCP participants engaged with touchMDT and touchPANEL DISCUSSION, respectively. The overall satisfaction was 82% (a total score of 20.6 out of 25) for the touchMDT and 88% (a total score of 21.9 out of 25) for the touchPANEL DISCUSSION. For the evaluation of knowledge and competence (50 respondents before the activity and 50 learners after the activity), there was a significant increase in the mean number of correctly answered questions from pre- to postactivity (touchMDT: median 4.0, IQR 3.0-5.0 to median 5.5, IQR 4.0-7.0; mean 4.00, SD 1.39 to mean 5.30, SD 1.56 and touchPANEL DISCUSSION: median 4.0, IQR 4.0-5.0 to median 6.0, IQR 5.0-7.0; mean 4.32, SD 1.30 to mean 5.88, SD 1.49; both P.99 for Ki-67 <20% and Ki-67 ≥20% tumors, respectively). The remaining educational gaps included strategies for implementing shared decision-making in clinical practice and the use of genetic and biomarker testing to guide treatment selection.
CONCLUSIONS: Brief, web-based CME activities on EBC were associated with an improvement in HCP knowledge, competence, and self-reported performance and can help identify unmet needs to inform the design of future CME activities.
METHODS: We further investigated the association of rs10235235 with breast cancer risk in a large case control study of 47,346 cases and 47,570 controls from 52 studies participating in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Genotyping of rs10235235 was conducted using a custom Illumina Infinium array. Stratified analyses were conducted to determine whether this association was modified by age at diagnosis, ethnicity, age at menarche or tumor characteristics.
RESULTS: We confirmed the association of rs10235235 with breast cancer risk for women of European ancestry but found no evidence that this association differed with age at diagnosis. Heterozygote and homozygote odds ratios (ORs) were OR = 0.98 (95% CI 0.94, 1.01; P = 0.2) and OR = 0.80 (95% CI 0.69, 0.93; P = 0.004), respectively (P(trend) = 0.02). There was no evidence of effect modification by tumor characteristics. rs10235235 was, however, associated with age at menarche in controls (P(trend) = 0.005) but not cases (P(trend) = 0.97). Consequently the association between rs10235235 and breast cancer risk differed according to age at menarche (P(het) = 0.02); the rare allele of rs10235235 was associated with a reduction in breast cancer risk for women who had their menarche age ≥15 years (OR(het) = 0.84, 95% CI 0.75, 0.94; OR(hom) = 0.81, 95% CI 0.51, 1.30; P(trend) = 0.002) but not for those who had their menarche age ≤11 years (OR(het) = 1.06, 95% CI 0.95, 1.19, OR(hom) = 1.07, 95% CI 0.67, 1.72; P(trend) = 0.29).
CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge rs10235235 is the first single nucleotide polymorphism to be associated with both breast cancer risk and age at menarche consistent with the well-documented association between later age at menarche and a reduction in breast cancer risk. These associations are likely mediated via an effect on circulating hormone levels.