Long-term collection of patient-reported outcome data in oncology trials: Important and feasible

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) data are collected in oncology trials to determine patients’ perspectives of cancer treatment—unfortunately often too briefly, for example only up to the point when an X-ray shows tumor growth and treatment is discontinued. As a result, it is not possible, for example, to reliably assess the impact on patients’ lives of disease progression seen on X-rays or the long-term side effects of cancer treatment.