Dr. Cella on the Value of Patient-Reported Outcomes

David Cella, PhD, a clinical research specialist and chair of the Department of Medical Social Science at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago explains the value of the patient-reported outcomes discovered as the lead investigator of the patient-reported outcomes phase III AXIS trial comparing axitinib to sorafenib as second-line therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Dr. Cella says that when talking about metastatic disease and symptoms that are affecting quality of life and function, you're also talking about giving a treatment that will have it's own toxicity and side effects. A therapy can be given to a patient to shrink a tumor, and keep that tumor shrunk for a period of time where the progression-free integral is extended, and that may or may not relate to an overall survival benefit. Any given patient may or may not live longer because of the therapy. The value of shrinking a tumor or extending the time that someone has a stable disease that doesn't progress is questioned. Dr. Cella says the value comes in patient-reported outcomes. He says in studies like this it is critical to have information from patients about the quality of life.