{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,16]],"date-time":"2025-12-16T09:37:17Z","timestamp":1765877837321,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,14]],"date-time":"2025-12-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765670400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Italian Ministry for University and Research under the PRIN 2022 research programme","award":["CUP F53D23006250006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CUP F53D23006250006"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Current Oncology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Healthcare communication often relies on complex digital infrastructures, yet clinicians increasingly adopt general-purpose Instant Messaging Apps (IMAs) such as WhatsApp\u00ae to meet unmet needs. DonnaRosa, an Italian community of breast cancer specialists founded in 2017, is a Community of Practice (CoP), where experts exchange second opinions, guidelines, and trial opportunities. This paper examines its origins, practices, and implications. Methods: A mixed-methods design was applied: (1) qualitative analysis of chat logs to identify interaction patterns and rules; (2) a 2024 online survey of 54 members (92.5% response rate) exploring demographics, usage, and perceived value; (3) ongoing semi-structured interviews with founders and participants to reconstruct history, recruitment, and professional impact. Results: The group has grown through personal invitations, creating a friendly network of oncologists. Communication is concise, colloquial, and collegial. Activities focus on case discussions, reassurance, interpretation of guidelines, and exchange of research opportunities. This article presents data from an online survey conducted in 2024, showing that the group is widely used for second opinions, often consulted even on weekends and holidays, and perceived as a source of professional support and learning. Members report that participation frequently changes or refines their clinical judgement, especially when guidelines are incomplete or ambiguous. The community also promotes resilience, reduces professional isolation, supports informal collaboration in research projects, and encourages interaction on organisational and healthcare management issues. Conclusions:DonnaRosa illustrates how informal IMAs can evolve into robust infrastructures of care and professional solidarity, complementing formal systems. In the era of artificial intelligence, CoPs like DonnaRosa may become even more relevant: AI tools, especially large language models, can accelerate literature retrieval and data synthesis, while the CoP provides the critical, experience-based interpretation needed for safe and meaningful application. Such a dual infrastructure\u2014technological and human\u2014offers a promising path for oncology, where complexity requires both computational breadth and the depth of expert clinical judgement. Taken together, these findings and the evolving role of AI in clinical communication underscore the need for oncology societies to develop governance frameworks that ensure the safe, accountable, and clinically appropriate use of instant-messaging tools in professional practice.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/curroncol32120704","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,15]],"date-time":"2025-12-15T15:52:59Z","timestamp":1765813979000},"page":"704","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["DonnaRosa Project: Exploring Informal Communication Practices Among Breast Cancer Specialists"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"32","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4109-6769","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonella","family":"Ferro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology and Rete Clinica Senologica, Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari, 38122 Trento, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-2631-0229","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Flavia","family":"Atzori","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali (DiSES), Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, 60121 Ancona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7822-7251","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Catia","family":"Angiolini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Breast Medical Oncology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Careggi, 50134 Firenze, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michela","family":"Bortolin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology Unit Ospedale di Montebelluna, ULSS 2 Marca Trevigiana, 31044 Treviso, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8950-8561","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Cortesi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology Unit, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, 42122 Reggio Emilia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alessandra","family":"Fabi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Precision Medicine Unit in Senology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00136 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1354-4600","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elena","family":"Fiorio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata Verona, 37124 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7359-5410","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ornella","family":"Garrone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca\u2019 Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Milano, 20122 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Gianni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Struttura Semplice di Unit\u00e0 Operativa \u201cOncologia DH Cattolica\u201d, 47841 Cattolica, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Monica","family":"Giordano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology Unit, Sant\u2019Anna Como, 47841 Como, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Merlini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology Padova Sud, 35131 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marta","family":"Mion","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology Ospedali di Cittadella e Camposampiero AULSS6 Regione Veneto, 35012 Camposampiero, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Moscetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncology and Hemathology Department, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Policlinico di Modena, 41125 Modena, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-7717-9251","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Donata","family":"Sartori","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology Mirano-Dolo, 30035 Mirano, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria Giuseppa","family":"Sarobba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology ASL3 Nuoro, 08100 Nuoro, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3922-4960","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simon","family":"Spazzapan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncologia Medica e Prevenzione Oncologica Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO), IRCCS Aviano, 33081 Aviano, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0537-7769","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberto","family":"Lusardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze Aziendali, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Bergamo, 24129 Bergamo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6115-0577","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Enrico Maria","family":"Piras","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Digital Health & Wellbeing Center, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, 38122 Trento, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e22874","DOI":"10.2196\/22874","article-title":"Use of WhatsApp for Polyclinic Consultation of Suspected Patients With COVID-19: Retrospective Case Control Study","volume":"8","author":"Karsli","year":"2020","journal-title":"JMIR MHealth UHealth"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Coleman, E., and O\u2019Connor, E. 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