Quality of life after nivolumab treatment for head and neck cancer
Mené sur 361 patients atteints d'un carcinome épidermoïde de la tête et du cou réfractaire aux sels de platine, de stade métastatique ou récidivant, cet essai de phase III compare la toxicité, du point de vue des symptômes et de la qualité de vie déclarés par les patients, du nivolumab et d'un traitement standard choisi par le médecin (méthotrexate, docétaxel ou cétuximab en monothérapie)
When evaluating the effect of a new drug, it is important not only to take clinical outcomes such as overall survival, the proportions of patients achieving an overall response, and safety into account, but also the patients' experience with it. Only by considering clinical and patient-reported outcomes (PRO) together can the overall benefit of a treatment be judged. For that reason, it is crucial to report the PROs results together or shortly after the publication of the clinical outcomes. In previous times, this has unfortunately often been neglected, and the PROs have been published years after the main paper came out.
The Lancet Oncology , commentaire, 2016