Table 1

Audience responses to questions before the talks and after the discussion period
Before/after discussion
 Yes
 No
 Unsure
Is patient representation on trial steering committees helpful?


     Before
 53
 16
 32
     After
 44
 38
 18
Should patients be involved in clinical trial design?


     Before
 38
 39
 23
     After
 32
 56
 11
Do patient advocacy groups help speed up introduction of new drugs in the clinic?


     Before
 63
 24
 13
     After
 90
 8
 2
Are patient advocacy groups responsible for distorting cancer budget in favour of breast over other tumours?


     Before
 79
 11
 10
     After
 66
 30
 5
Should formal QoL play a major role in the management of MBC patients?


     Before
 73
 14
 14
     After
 90
 8
 2
Are patient self-reports in QoL questionnaires more accurate than clinicians' records of side effects?


     Before
 50
 25
 25
     After
 80
 8
 13
When making decisions about local surgical therapy women prefer ...a


     Before
 10 (Dr to choose)
 83 (joint decision)
 7 (patient choice)
     After
 5 (Dr to choose)
 81 (joint decision)
 14 (patient choice)
Should breast cancer patients be encouraged to try complementary therapy?


     Before
 23
 48
 29
     After
 31
 38
 31
Do nonprescription drugs help the symptoms and side effects?


     Before
 39
 20
 41
     After
 38
 23
 39

aFor this question, the options were 'Dr to choose', 'joint decision' and 'patient choice'. MBC, metastatic breast cancer; QoL, quality of life.

Fallowfield Breast Cancer Research 2007 9(Suppl 2):S2   doi:10.1186/bcr1800