Symptoms are common among patients receiving treatment for advanced cancers, yet they can also go undetected by clinicians. Because of this, there is growing interest in integrating electronic patient-reported outcomes (PROs) into routine oncology practice for symptom monitoring. A recent study aimed to find evidence demonstrating the clinical benefit.

In the study, approved by the Memorial Sloan Kettering institutional review board, researchers assessed overall survival associated with PROs vs usual care based on follow-up from a randomized clinical trial. The study found that Integration of PROs into the routine care of patients with metastatic cancer was associated with increased survival compared with usual care.

“One potential mechanism of action is early responsiveness to patient symptoms preventing adverse downstream consequences,” say the researchers. Click here to read more.

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