The identified gap in social media use between age cohorts may have negative implications for communication in oncology. Despite advancements in social media and efforts to integrate social media into medical education, most oncologists and trainees use social media rarely, which, along with the age-related gap in use, may have consequences for collaboration and education in oncology. Investigations to further understand barriers to social media use should be undertaken to enhance physician collaboration and knowledge sharing through social media.

A systematic review was conducted to assess the use of social media to enhance breast cancer care. In addition, a Web-based search using common search engines and publicly available social media was conducted to determine the prevalence of information and networking pages aimed at patients and clinicians. Over 400 articles were retrieved; 81% focused on delivery of information or online support to patients, 17% focused on delivery of information to physicians, and 1% focused on the use of social media to improve collaboration among clinicians. Web searches retrieved millions of hits, with very few hits relating to improving collaboration among clinicians. Although there is significant potential to utilize current technologies to improve care for patients and improve connectedness among clinicians, most of the currently available technologies focus solely on the delivery of information.

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140 Background: Neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) is widely considered to be the standard of care for patients diagnosed with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) or inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). NAT is also considered in patients with more aggressive subtypes (Her2+ or triple negative cancers). However, it remains unclear which patients are being considered for NAT, which patients are indeed receiving NAT, and how long the current wait times for chemotherapy and hormone therapy are in this patient population. This study was designed to characterize the breast cancer patients being referred to the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) Vancouver’s NAT clinic, and to determine the average wait times for chemotherapy and hormone therapy in these patients. Methods: Between May 13th, 2013 and June 3rd, 2014, a total of 160 potential NAT candidates were seen at the BCCA Vancouver NAT clinic. Breast cancer characteristics and wait times for these patients were assessed prospectively using a secure database. Results: Of these 160 patients, 119 (74%) actually received NAT; 76.7% of these were deemed LABC patients (clinical stage IIB or III), and 6% were “window of opportunity” (WOP) patients (those considered for NAT due to long surgical wait times). NAT patient receptor status differed significantly from the receptor statuses of patients who did not receive NAT (p=0.006), with Her2+ and triple negative breast cancer patients being most likely to receive NAT. Seventy-eight percent of ER+Her2+, 86% of ER-Her2+, 67% of ER+Her2-, and 80% of triple negative patients received NAT. A total of 4 patients (2.5%) presented in clinic with metastatic disease and thus were not considered for NAT. The average wait time between when a patient was referred to the BCCA and when they commenced chemotherapy was 18.1 days (median: 16), while the average wait time to receive hormone therapy alone was 12.3 days (median: 10). Conclusions: These findings suggest a need to expedite screening and care for these high-risk breast cancer patients in order to characterize and treat the disease neoadjuvantly before it has metastasized. Strategies to reduce wait times in this breast cancer population are being further assessed.