Brain cancer can impact how you function and how you feel. Treatment can cause symptoms that may compound the impact of the tumor. Research must focus not only on treating the cancer but also ensuring the best possible quality of life for patients.
Patient Centered Outcomes are tools used in clinical studies to evaluate the impact of both the cancer and its treatment on the person. These often include Patient Reported Outcomes, which are questionnaires that ask the person to report this impact. Questions are asked about symptoms they experience or how they are able to walk, work, or enjoy their life activities.
These outcomes are important because they:
- Gather information on the treatment and health status of patients with brain tumors
- Provide information to health care providers on the symptoms, treatment and outcomes of brain tumor patients to improve health care practices
- Develop new treatment strategies based on this data for future clinical trials to improve survival and outcome