Close digital support helps women with breast cancer

Approximately 68,000 women in Germany are living with metastatic breast cancer, a stage where the disease has spread to other organs and is no longer curable. While modern therapies can temporarily control the disease and extend life expectancy by several years, challenges arise from the need for frequent hospital visits and incomplete medical oversight.

To address this, researchers from the Charité Breast Cancer Center developed the PRO B digital treatment concept. This concept involves an app that prompts women up to 52 times per week about their symptoms, daily life, and emotional state. The responses are analyzed by an algorithm that alerts the treatment team to any relevant changes, enabling them to contact the patients within 48 hours.

This proactive monitoring has been shown to improve patients' daily lives, reduce fatigue, enhance physical functioning, and lower hospitalizations, compared to less frequent assessments. A study involving 52 breast cancer centers and 909 patients demonstrated these benefits, with the majority of patients expressing a desire for PRO B to become part of routine care.

The German Federal Ministry of Health has recommended incorporating the PRO B treatment concept into standard care to provide all insured patients with this supportive approach upon diagnosis.