Symptom Monitoring to Help Women Sticking with Endocrine Therapy
Official title: Symptom Monitoring using Patient-Reported Outcomes to Optimize Medication Use (SyMPTOM)
Funded at Medical College of Wisconsin · NIH-11398959 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tests whether regularly tracking patients' symptoms and having pharmacists help manage them can improve how consistently women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer take their endocrine therapy over five years.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Medical College of Wisconsin NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Milwaukee, United States) |
| Project start | August 6, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $740,099 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA285925-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11398959 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer who are prescribed endocrine therapy and have a history of poor adherence.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who are not on endocrine therapy or who do not have adherence challenges may not experience direct benefit.
What this research studies
Women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer often take endocrine therapy for five years, but many struggle to adhere to the regimen. The study will collect patient-reported symptom data and have clinical pharmacy teams assist patients in managing pain, menopausal symptoms, and other barriers between doctor visits. An randomized design will test whether this symptom-monitoring and pharmacist-led support improves daily medication adherence. The approach is grounded in prior findings that symptom monitoring can improve outcomes and that nonphysician outreach can help high-risk patients maintain treatment. If successful, this could offer a scalable way to help patients stay on therapy and reduce cancer recurrence.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could experience better adherence to therapy, potentially reducing cancer recurrence and improving survival.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research in other settings suggests symptom monitoring can improve outcomes, with some success in adherence support via nonphysician outreach.
Where this research is happening
-
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Flynn, Kathryn E — Medical College of Wisconsin
- Study coordinator: Flynn, Kathryn E
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.