Release Date: April 5, 2024
Brian Halbert, MD, MPH and Erin Pierce, APRN received grant funding from the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) for their Pilot study entitled “Implementation of a home health monitoring program to improve cancer treatment adherence among men with advanced prostate cancer.”
Men with prostate cancer frequently develop severe cardiovascular problems caused by poorly controlled risk factors and androgen-ablative therapies. Home health monitoring programs have been shown to help improve modifiable cardiovascular risk including blood pressure.
Ochsner has a robust digital medicine department and experience implementing home health monitoring programs; Chemocare Companion is a home monitoring program for patients receiving traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy that has enrolled 734 unique patients since 2020 and has been estimated to reduce emergency room visits by 33%.
As a logical extension of Chemocare Companion, Dr. Halbert and Erin Pierce proposed a pilot program of home health monitoring – including blood pressure, weight, and activity tracking – among men being treated with hormonal therapy for prostate cancer. Their goal is to determine the feasibility of this program to improve cardiovascular risk and promote optimal cancer care adherence among men with prostate cancer on long term hormonal therapy.
Upon completion of their pilot program, they will proceed with a randomized trial of a home health monitoring program among men being treated with hormonal therapy for prostate cancer at participating NCORP cancer centers across the country.
