Patient-Initiated Follow-Up in Ovarian Cancer
Sometimes the management of ovarian cancer is stereotyped being usually what has always been done. This means a schedule of repeat consultations is used to follow up patients after initial successful treatment of the cancer.
This prospective pilot study looked at giving women the choice to either seek follow up when they thought they needed it, or the usual routine schedule. Both patient groups had serial CA125 testing as normal.
Just over 40% chose to take that choice. They reported no increased anxiety or lack of support. Results of blood tests were made available by encrypted messaging. When making their own decisions, women had half as many follow up visits. No significant delay in detecting and managing recurrence occurred.
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