Cervical Ca PROs in Clinical Practice

Concurrent chemo-radiotherapy followed by intracavitary brachytherapy is standard of care for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. Although curative, this treatment is challenging and leaves a significant proportion of women with severe toxicity, negatively impacting their quality of life. Although most recover over time, a proportion of women do not. Therefore, evaluation of quality of life becomes increasingly more important as cancer specific outcomes improve. One such method is through patient-reported outcomes (PROs), defined as "any report coming directly from the patient about a health condition and its treatment." This prospective multi-institutional study, involving the Princess Margaret (PM), Odette Regional Cancer Centre(ORCC) and Royal Victoria Regional Health Center (RVH), will assess to feasibility and acceptability of integrating a cervical cancer specific PRO measurement tool into clinical practice. Cervical cancer patients coming for follow-up appointments will be asked to complete the EORTC QLQ-CX24, a validated cervical cancer specific PRO questionnaire. At the end of the study period, Feedback Forms will be completed by participating patients and health care providers to obtain their perspectives regarding the feasibility and acceptability of incorporating the instrument into clinical practice. Future directions include designing an electronic platform and expanding its use in cervical cancer clinics provincially and nationally. The data collected should help identify disease-related symptoms, treatment-related toxicities, facilitate patient-physician communication, shared treatment planning and target intervention strategies.