Abstract
Simple SummaryCancer therapies should improve patient survival or at least improve the quality of their life as they receive treatment for their disease. This is particularly important in pancreatic cancer, where current treatments often have to balance between limiting tumor growth and minimizing patient toxicity. There has been an increasing appreciation among physicians to capture the patient’s voice using tools called patient-reported outcome measures (PROM). In this article, we describe the available PROMs and their relative strengths and weaknesses to help oncologists make sense of this rapidly growing field. Finally, we present a decision-making tool that can help researchers and clinicians select the ideal PROM that fits their needs.Pancreatic cancer and its treatment often dramatically impact patients’ quality of life (QoL). Given this, as well as increased focus on QoL measures in clinical oncology, there has been a rise in the number of instruments that measure patient-reported outcomes (PROs). In this review, we describe the landscape of different PRO instruments pertaining to pancreatic cancer, with specific emphasis on PRO findings related to pancreatic cancer patients receiving radiotherapy (RT). Twenty-five of the most commonly utilized PROs are compared in detail. Notably, most of the PRO tools discussed are not specific to pancreatic cancer but are generic and have been used in various malignancies. Published findings concerning PROs in pancreatic cancer involving RT are also extracted and summarized. Among the measures used, the European Organization for Research and Treatment Cancer QLQ-C30 was the most commonly utilized. We recommend a careful selection of PRO measures in clinical pancreatic cancer research and care and encourage the use of a combination of symptom-specific and global QoL tools to more fully capture patients’ perspectives.
Highlights
Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are measures directly obtained from patients, including but not limited to emotional well-being, general quality of life (QoL), and physical and psychological symptoms
The utility of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) is widely acknowledged both in clinical practice and research. This trend is striking in clinical oncology, where there are widespread efforts dedicated to improving value-based quality of life for cancer patients
Challenges remain in adopting the best practices into clinical trials, since there is no consensus with regards to the best patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for a given study
Summary
Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are measures directly obtained from patients, including but not limited to emotional well-being, general quality of life (QoL), and physical and psychological symptoms. PROMs are designed based on adverse events that could be appropriate for patients to self-report Those PROMs test specific domains and are typically developed with input from a variety of multidisciplinary stakeholders, including patients, clinicians, and psychometricians (for proper psychological measurements). Patients undergoing radiation therapy for pancreatic cancer may experience gastrointestinal toxicities secondary to radiation fields targeting the abdominal area, with a predominance of symptoms related to bowel dysfunction and toxicity In such cases, PROMs measuring salivary gland function or respiratory symptoms may yield less useful information. Many instruments are readily available and can allow a researcher to capture the PROs for any specific disease site The use of such PROMs has the potential to improve symptom reporting and management, as well as the establishment of an environment of understanding between patients and physicians. We suggest potentially promising PRO metrics for clinical trials involving emerging therapies, such as SBRT
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