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Second Opinions in Oncology

Examining the Decision-Making Process and Characteristics of Cancer Patients Who Sought Second Opinions at the University of Colorado

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05102500
Enrollment
236
Registered
2021-11-01
Start date
2021-05-14
Completion date
2024-05-10
Last updated
2026-02-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Breast Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer

Brief summary

The long-time goal is to understand what decision-making process and patient characteristics factor into a patient deciding to stay with their initial physician versus seeking treatment with a second opinion.

Detailed description

The long-time goal is to understand what decision-making process and patient characteristics factor into a patient deciding to stay with their initial physician versus seeking treatment with a second opinion. To do this, the PI will examine the second opinion retention rates and patient characteristics of three distinct populations: breast cancer patients, pancreatic cancer patients and colorectal cancer patients. The study team hypothesize the majority of breast cancer and colorectal cancer patients who seek a second opinion at the University of Colorado, will preferentially choose to return to their first provider, whereas patients with pancreatic cancer who seek a second opinion at the sponsor's institution will be more likely to go on to receive care at the University of Colorado. The PI predicts the difference in second opinion retention rates between these three populations is due to the ability of the second opinion pancreatic cancer provider's ability to offer more treatment or a different treatment plan at the sponsor institution relative to the patient's first provider. The study team also predict that socioeconomic status and education will have a positive correlation with changing to with a second opinion physician whereas geographic distance and treatment plan similarity will have a negative correlation. The study team will assess this hypothesis by conducting a retrospective cohort study of breast, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer patients who received a second opinion at the University of Colorado. From this cohort, the study team will identify patients who both received their care at the sponsor institution and patients who returned to their initial provider to receive care. The study team will invite these patients to participate in semi-structured interviews to better understand how and why the patient made their treatment decisions.

Interventions

None listed

Sponsors

University of Colorado, Denver
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Cancer patients who are 18 years of age or older who received a second opinion at the University of Colorado. * A subset of these patients will be invited to participate in semi-structured interviews

Exclusion criteria

* Patients under the age of 18. * Patients who did not receive a second opinion at the University of Colorado.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Second opinion retention rates for cancer patients at University of Colorado12 monthsa. The study team will perform a retrospective chart review to identify patients with breast cancer, colorectal cancer or pancreatic cancer who were seen by a surgeon at the University of Colorado for a second opinion and to examine whether or not the subject stayed at the Cancer Center to receive cancer care. The study team predict the second opinion retention rate - the percent of patients who received a second opinion at the Cancer Center and ultimately received care at this institution - will be significantly higher for pancreatic cancer patients than for breast and colorectal cancer patients.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Univariate statistical analysis affecting second opinion retention rates12 monthsa. The study team will perform univariate analysis on patient, disease, and treatment characteristics for the second opinion patients who did and did not receive cancer care at this institution to identify factors associated with high and low second opinion retention rates. The study team hypothesize patient factors (socioeconomic status, education, and geographic distance), disease factors (more advanced disease or less common tumor subtypes), and treatment factors (offering more or different treatment) will affect the second opinion retention rates for breast and pancreatic cancer patients.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORSarah Tevis

Colorado Research Center

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026