Empowering Patients: The Role of Shared Treatment Decision-Making in Advanced Bladder Cancer—A Podcast

Shared treatment decision-making refers to an approach to care in which patients and their clinicians work in partnership to choose between treatment options, or delay/forgo treatment, concordant with patient values and considering the best available evidence. Research in various diseases, including cancer, has shown that patients who feel informed in treatment decisions have greater satisfaction with their medical care, better adherence to treatment, and better quality-of-life outcomes. The treatment landscape for advanced bladder cancer has evolved in recent years and several treatment options are now available, increasing the importance of shared treatment decisions. Various factors may be relevant to shared decision-making in advanced bladder cancer, including the attributes of different treatment options (e.g., efficacy, toxicity profile, or treatment regimen), patient characteristics (e.g., priorities, health status, or social factors), disease characteristics (e.g., extent of disease or treatment history), and treatment access, highlighting the need to tailor treatment to individual patients. Challenges or barriers to shared treatment decision-making include the lack of knowledge in patients newly diagnosed with cancer, and potential discordance between patients and clinicians regarding treatment goals. However, tools are available that can facilitate shared treatment decision-making and help patients prepare for discussions. In this podcast, we discuss the concept of shared treatment decision-making and the range of considerations related to its application in the management of advanced bladder cancer. With the increasing focus on patient-centered care, shared treatment decision-making can help create individualized treatment plans for patients with advanced bladder cancer, which can be facilitated by in-depth discussions between patients, carers, and clinicians about treatment goals and the benefits and risks of available treatment options. Infographic and podcast audio are available for this article.