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Patient-reported outcomes in acute graft-versus-host disease: optimizing patient care and clinical trial endpoints

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Abstract

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) refer to patient perceived and reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL), functional status, and symptom burden. PROs have become an important measure in oncologic care to identify the impact of the disease and its treatment on a patient’s health status. Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is an aggressive and potentially curative therapy for patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies. A common complication of HCT is graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which can be a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality, as well as a wide spectrum of physical and psychosocial effects. Quality of life and symptom burden have been shown to be important measures in the study of posttransplant complications, including chronic GVHD. We review the need for a novel tool in acute GVHD to capture disease symptoms and HRQOL to better understand patient symptoms, disease trajectory and outcome.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Utah Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Sagar S. Patel

  2. Quantitative Health Sciences, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Brittany Lapin

  3. Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Brittany Lapin

  4. Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Navneet S. Majhail & Betty K. Hamilton

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  1. Sagar S. Patel
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Correspondence to Betty K. Hamilton.

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Patel, S.S., Lapin, B., Majhail, N.S. et al. Patient-reported outcomes in acute graft-versus-host disease: optimizing patient care and clinical trial endpoints. Bone Marrow Transplant 55, 1533–1539 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-020-0850-4

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