Evaluating Psychological and Survival Outcomes of the Promoting Resilience in Stress Management for Metastatic Breast Cancer (PRISM-MBC) Intervention

Black women with breast cancer have substantially worse survival compared to White counterparts across all stages of presenting disease. Survival from a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) to death is shorter for Black compared to non-Black women, with the worst disparity appearing in younger patients.

Black compared to non-Black MBC patients also report more chronic stressors including social barriers to cancer care, metabolic co-morbidities, and higher likelihood of residing in neighborhoods with adverse social determinants of health (SDOH). These bio-psycho-social factors are potential mechanisms of observed racial gaps in survival of MBC. The adversity experienced by Black patients may impact the outcomes of MBC through social, psychological, and biological mechanisms. Regarding social mechanisms, adverse SDOH may cause patients to have delays in care, miss appointments, defer needed treatment, or tolerate treatment less well due to unmet supportive care or social support needs. Regarding psychological and biological mechanisms, cumulative physiologic stress and distress elevate inflammatory and immune biomarkers and precipitate the development of cardio-metabolic diseases, a phenomenon known as allostatic overload. Black individuals both with and without cancer are more likely to suffer from allostatic overload, and the impact of cancer on allostatic load may be differential by race. While the Black-White gap in breast cancer survival has long been recognized, the relationships among marginalized racial identity, adverse social circumstances, allostatic overload, and breast cancer outcomes remain poorly understood.

Stress and Coping Theory posits that the ways in which individuals appraise and cope with stressful experiences are modifiable targets for intervention. In this regard, "resilience" is a key construct; it implies an ability to harness resources to sustain well-being in the face of adversity. In breast cancer patients and others with serious illness, skills in stress-management, goal-setting, positive-reframing, and meaning - making are associated with improved stress biology, physical, and mental health. In the context of an advanced cancer diagnosis, resilient individuals may be more able to cope with the challenges of illness, including barriers to care, and in turn experience less incremental stress, and improved quality of life (QOL) and disease outcomes. Such resilience might be particularly beneficial to patients from marginalized groups.

Investigators of this study have previously developed and demonstrated the efficacy of a targeted intervention promoting resilience in populations of young adults with pediatric cancers and advanced cancers. However, evidence is lacking as to whether such an intervention can be helpful among women with MBC, particularly those from historically marginalized communities. The goal of this study is to test the impacts of a remotely delivered resilience intervention, Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM), on relevant social, psychological, and biologic outcomes of diverse women with a recent diagnosis of MBC at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) and the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB).