Context Matters

In a recent piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine, oncologist Dr. Ethan Basch talks about his perspective that patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are not widely used in the development process for cancer drugs because they are not often measured in clinical trials.

A recent NY Times piece by Tara Parker-Pope reported on the recommendation by a group at the National Cancer Institute to change both the definition of cancer as well as treatment and detection techniques.

Physicians are increasingly advocating a patient-centered approach to practicing medicine, and both regulatory agencies and manufacturers also seem to agree that patient reported outcomes (PROs) are valuable.

A recent Op-Ed piece in the New York Times by Clifton Leaf asked the question "Do Clinical Trials Work?"