Methodology for using real-world data from electronic health records to assess chemotherapy administration in women with breast cancer Journal Article


Authors: Bhimani, J.; O'Connell, K.; Ergas, I. J.; Foley, M.; Gallagher, G. B.; Griggs, J. J.; Heon, N.; Kolevska, T.; Kotsurovskyy, Y.; Kroenke, C. H.; Laurent, C. A.; Liu, R.; Nakata, K. G.; Persaud, S.; Rivera, D. R.; Roh, J. M.; Tabatabai, S.; Valice, E.; Bowles, E. J. A.; Bandera, E. V.; Kushi, L. H.; Kantor, E. D.
Article Title: Methodology for using real-world data from electronic health records to assess chemotherapy administration in women with breast cancer
Abstract: PURPOSE: Identification of patients' intended chemotherapy regimens is critical to most research questions conducted in the real-world setting of cancer care. Yet, these data are not routinely available in electronic health records (EHRs) at the specificity required to address these questions. We developed a methodology to identify patients' intended regimens from EHR data in the Optimal Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Dosing (OBCD) study. METHODS: In women older than 18 years, diagnosed with primary stage I-IIIA breast cancer at Kaiser Permanente Northern California (2006-2019), we categorized participants into 24 drug combinations described in National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for breast cancer treatment. Participants were categorized into 50 guideline chemotherapy administration schedules within these combinations using an iterative algorithm process, followed by chart abstraction where necessary. We also identified patients intended to receive nonguideline administration schedules within guideline drug combinations and nonguideline drug combinations. This process was adapted at Kaiser Permanente Washington using abstracted data (2004-2015). RESULTS: In the OBCD cohort, 13,231 women received adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy, of whom 10,213 (77%) had their intended regimen identified via the algorithm, 2,416 (18%) had their intended regimen identified via abstraction, and 602 (4.5%) could not be identified. Across guideline drug combinations, 111 nonguideline dosing schedules were used, alongside 61 nonguideline drug combinations. A number of factors were associated with requiring abstraction for regimen determination, including: decreasing neighborhood household income, earlier diagnosis year, later stage, nodal status, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)+ status. CONCLUSION: We describe the challenges and approaches to operationalize complex, real-world data to identify intended chemotherapy regimens in large, observational studies. This methodology can improve efficiency of use of large-scale clinical data in real-world populations, helping answer critical questions to improve care delivery and patient outcomes.
Keywords: breast neoplasms; drug combination; breast tumor; drug combinations; electronic health records; humans; human; female; electronic health record
Journal Title: JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics
Volume: 8
ISSN: 2473-4276
Publisher: American Society of Clinical Oncology  
Date Published: 2024-05-01
Start Page: e2300209
Language: English
DOI: 10.1200/cci.23.00209
PUBMED: 38635936
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC11902409
DOI/URL:
Notes: The MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) is acknowledged in the PDF -- Corresponding author is MSK author: Elizabeth D. Kantor -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Narre Heon
    16 Heon
  2. Elizabeth David Kantor
    40 Kantor
  3. Jenna Bhimani
    14 Bhimani
  4. Sonia Persaud
    21 Persaud