New Patient-Centered Tool Devised to Record Side Effects of Radiotherapy

Researchers have investigated a patient-centered approach to evaluating the side effects of radiotherapy and have shown that it may be able to optimize the detection and management of treatment-related toxicity.

For lung tumors that cannot be removed with surgery, radiotherapy is the best treatment option. However, it is associated with a range of side effects, including fatigue and inflammation of the esophagus and lungs. Current tools to record treatment-related toxicities rely on an evaluation by healthcare professionals. Now, a British team has investigated the use of patient-reported outcomes to improve the recording of side effects for lung cancer patients.

Dr. Corinne Faivre-Finn, a researcher in the University of Manchester’s Institute of Cancer Sciences (UK), and a consultant based at the Christie NHS [National Health Service] Foundation Trust, who led the research, said, “Such patient-reported outcome tools have been mainly evaluated for use with chemotherapy treatments. We wanted to assess their feasibility and relevance in lung cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.”

The group looked at the agreement between side effects as reported by physicians and the patients themselves. They also evaluated the relationship between reported toxicities and quality-of-life measures, relating to aspects such as tiredness, anxiety, and shortness of breath. Patients were asked to fill in questionnaires covering both side effects and quality of life at three time points: before treatment, at the end of radiotherapy and at later follow up. The consultants answered questions at identical time points covering the same typical radiotherapy-related toxicities for each patient.

The study revealed that there was strongest agreement between the patient’s scoring of side effects and measures relating to their quality of life. Toxicities as recorded by the clinicians appeared to underestimate their severity. “This was the first study in Europe to explore such a patient-centered approach to recording side effects. Incorporating this method into cancer care could allow us to detect and manage serious effects earlier. It could also improve patient-doctor relationships and help doctors better understand the full impact of treatment on patients,” added Dr. Faivre-Finn.

This tool has been integrated into a European project called REQUITE, led by The Christie, which has a goal to validate predictive models and biomarkers of radiotherapy toxicity to reduce side-effects and improve quality of life in cancer survivors.

The study’s findings were published August 5, 2014, in the journal Radiotherapy and Oncology.

Related Links:
University of Manchester’s Institute of Cancer Sciences