A Longitudinal Study of the Trajectory of Financial Toxicity and Its Relationship With Symptom Burden in Breast Cancer Patients

Breast cancer has become the leading cause of global cancer incidence. With the improvement of treatment methods, some breast cancer patients have experienced different degrees of financial toxicity, which seriously affected the quality of life, treatment compliance and treatment outcomes of patients. Currently, there are some related studies on financial toxicity in breast cancer patients, but they are mainly cross-sectional studies, lacking the use of validated financial toxicity tools to measure the longitudinal change trajectory of financial toxicity. The financial toxicity of breast cancer patients may change dynamically with the treatment stage, expenditure and time, so it is necessary to conduct a rigorously designed prospective study to explore the trajectory of financial toxicity. In addition, previous studies have showed that financial toxicity may be associated with anxiety, distress, pain and overall symptom burden. However, the relevant evidence is currently limited. This study is designed as a prospective longitudinal study to explore the trajectory of financial toxicity and its influencing factors in breast cancer patients in China, and to focus on the relationship between symptom burden and financial toxicity, which will help clinicians identify potential high-risk populations, and provide a new perspective for future intervention programs.