The Development and Testing of a Patient Decision Aid for Individuals with Homologous Recombinant Proficient Ovarian Cancer Who Are Considering Niraparib Maintenance Therapy

Sep 22, 2026

New treatments for ovarian cancer require trade-offs between progression-free survival and quality of life. This study developed a patient decision aid for individuals with homologous recombinant proficient (HRP) tumors considering niraparib maintenance, addressing the benefit–harm ratio. The aid was produced through a systematic, iterative process using the Ottawa Decision Support Framework, and then tested for acceptability, usability, and comprehensibility via surveys completed by patients and oncologists.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

HRD and HRP tumor characteristics

Rationale for niraparib maintenance and benefit–harm considerations

Development and testing approach

Systematic iterative development framework

User testing: acceptability, usability, comprehensibility

Article The Development and Testing of a Patient Decision Aid for Individuals with Homologous Recombinant Proﬁcient Ovarian Cancer Who Are Considering Niraparib Maintenance Therapy Laura Hopkins 1,*, Mark Carey 2, Linda Brown 3,†, Sabryna McCrea 4, Mark Milne 4, Dawne Tokaryk 5 and Dawn Stacey 6,7 Citation: Hopkins, L.; Carey, M.; Brown, L.; McCrea, S.; Milne, M.; Tokaryk, D.; Stacey, D. The Development and Testing of a Patient Decision Aid for Individuals with Homologous Recombinant Proficient Ovarian Cancer Who Are Considering Niraparib Maintenance Therapy. Curr. Oncol. 2024, 31, 1416–1425. [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[doi.org/10.3390/curroncol31030107](doi.org/10.3390/curroncol31030107) Received: 30 January 2024 Revised: 28 February 2024 Accepted: 4 March 2024 Published: 8 March 2024 Copyright: © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Division of Oncology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7V 4H4, Canada 2 Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada; mark.carey@ubc.ca 3 Ovarian Cancer Canada, Toronto, ON M5A 1E3, Canada 4 Research Facilitators, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A2, Canada; [sabryna13mccrea@gmail.com](sabryna13mccrea@gmail.com) (S.M.); [mark.milne@usask.ca](mark.milne@usask.ca) (M.M.) 5 Saskatchewan Cancer Agency Patient and Family Advisory Council, Saskatoon, SK S7V 4H4, Canada; [dhtokaryk@sasktel.net](dhtokaryk@sasktel.net) 6 School of Nursing Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada; [dawn.stacey@uottawa.ca](dawn.stacey@uottawa.ca) 7 Centre for Implementation Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L6, Canada * Correspondence: laura.hopkins@saskcancer.ca † This author deceased after decision aid was ﬁnalized and before manuscript written. Abstract: New treatments for ovarian cancer are available that require trade-offs between progressionfree survival and quality of life. The aim of this study was to develop a decision aid for patients with homologous recombinant proﬁcient (HRP) tumors, as the beneﬁt–harm ratio of niraparib needs consideration. This decision aid was created with a systematic and iterative development process based on the Ottawa Decision Support Framework. The decision aid was user-tested for acceptability, usability, and comprehensibility using a survey completed by a sample of patients with ovarian cancer and oncologists. This decision aid follows the International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) criteria in its development. User-test respondents (n = 13 patients; 13 physicians) reported that the decision aid used language that was easy to follow (69% patients; 85% physicians), was an appropriate length (69% patients; 62% physicians) and provided the right amount of information (54% patients; 54% physicians) . Most respondents (92% patients; 62% physicians) would recommend this decision aid for HRP patients considering niraparib. This is the ﬁrst decision aid for patients with HRP ovarian cancers who are considering niraparib maintenance therapy. It is available on-line and is being further evaluated in a pragmatic clinical trial in Saskatchewan. Keywords: decision aid; ovarian cancer; niraparib 1. Introduction Homologous recombinant deﬁciency (HRD) is a tumor characteristic deﬁned by the inability to repair double-stranded DNA breaks. In ovarian cancers, we identify HRD by looking at speciﬁc tumor biomarkers: either individual mutations (for example BRCA1 or BRCA2) or measurable and structural rearrangements in DNA. As such, we may identify ovarian cancer patients as being homologous recombinant deﬁcient or proﬁcient.

FAQs

What clinical need does the decision aid address?

It helps patients weigh trade-offs between progression-free survival and quality of life when considering niraparib maintenance therapy for HRP ovarian cancer.

How was the patient decision aid developed?

It was created using a systematic, iterative development process based on the Ottawa Decision Support Framework, following international patient decision aid standards.

How was the decision aid evaluated?

Respondents including patients and physicians completed a survey assessing acceptability, usability, and comprehensibility, with results reported as percentages of favorable ratings.

Sep 22, 2026

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