Emerging trends and utilization of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical trials of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies.

Abstract

e19142 Background: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are an important tool to assess the impact of new therapies on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study aimed to describe if and what PRO instruments are currently being utilized in CAR-T cell therapy studies in solid and hematological malignancies while assessing the patterns of inclusion and trends of HRQoL data reporting. Methods: We used Citeline to search for clinical trials between Jan 2008 - Jan 2020, excluding planned or terminated studies, non-oncology, non-treatment, and duplicates. Reviewers extracted various parameters for included trials, then cross-matched data with EU Clinical Trials Register, Clinical trials.gov, trial protocols (when available), and Google. The reporting of PRO data was then assessed for those Closed/Completed trials that included a PRO via PubMed/MEDLINE, Sponsor, and Google. Results: A sample of 664 CAR-T trials was identified. PROs were included in only 6.17% (41/664) studies. Of the 41 trials that included a PRO, 63.41% (26/41) utilized more than one PRO, with the generic EORTC QLQ-C30 and the EQ-5D being used predominately. Median HRQoL follow-up was 5-years on most trials. No studies used PROs as primary endpoints. The majority of PROs were observed to be utilized in early phase trials (phase I, 12; Phase I/II, 17). PROs were first incorporated in CAR-T trials beginning in 2014, and the utilization rate has increased steadily, except for 2019. PROs were included in 3 first line trials, 22 second line, 5 third line, and 11 fourth line or greater. PRO utilization between solid tumor trials and hematologic malignancies was comparable (6.04% [9/149], and 6.26% [32/511]). Of the completed/closed trials, 28.57% (3/14) published PRO data and met at least eight of the CONSORT-PRO quality indicators. Conclusions: The utilization of PROs in CAR-T trials (6.17%) is under the industry average of 27%, despite the growing importance of HRQoL and its impact on value-based care. The findings from this review reflect the overall increased attention to CAR-T as a new therapeutic entity and the continued deficiency of including and reporting of PROs in trial designs.