Foreword
Article Outline
This is the second half of an effort by the Mayo Clinic/North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) Quality of Life (QOL) team intended to highlight and delineate the advances and solutions to challenges in QOL assessment. The first half of this monograph appeared in the November/December 2005 issue of this journal.1 In total, we present 18 different aspects of incorporating QOL assessments into oncology clinical practice and research.
This monograph is intended for non-QOL experts. We have omitted much of the technical details in the reference material (eg, see Sloan and Dueck2) and instead have focused on the pragmatic aspects of QOL assessment. We continue to use An Illustrative Artificial Example Clinical Trial for a New Anti-Cancer Medication (NEWMED) to demonstrate the practical application of the solutions presented. NEWMED, the hypothetical new anticancer agent, has potentially broad application for all types of cancers with many combined treatment options, particularly in patients with advanced (metastatic) disease. The primary aim of NEWMED clinical trials (via a progression of phase I, II, and III trials) is to assess whether NEWMED has an ameliorating effect on patients with cancer. There are also specific objectives to determine the impact of side effects of NEWMED on cancer patients, to determine the impact of NEWMED on the QOL of cancer patients, and to determine whether NEWMED prolongs survival and/or delays disease progression. NEWMED is associated with considerable side effects as well as a substantial improvement in patient survival. QOL issues include the impact of NEWMED on pain, fatigue, and mood/depression. It can be given orally or by subcutaneous infusion, and a typical cycle of NEWMED lasts 28 days. This example is intentionally generic to give rise to a plethora of issues and to apply across a variety of settings within oncology research and practice.
Acknowledgments
This monograph would not have come together if not for the dedicated work of our administrative assistants Kara Curry, Kristy Vierling, and Vicki Schmidt, as well as team member Jennifer Schaub. We are thankful to the journal’s editor, Dr. Peter Johnstone, for suggesting this project and for his patience, understanding, and editorial prowess as we brought this monograph to fruition. We are also appreciative of the support from the leadership of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, especially the director Dr. Frank Prendergast, the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG), specifically the group chair Dr. Jan Buckner, and the Cancer Control Program chair, Dr. Charles Loprinzi. Dr. Sloan would also like to acknowledge his longtime and cherished mentor Dr. Snehesh K. Sinha.
References
PII: S0147-0272(06)00053-5
doi:10.1016/j.currproblcancer.2006.08.002
© 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
