Patients With RCC Gauge Relevance of FKSI-19, EORTC QLQ-C30, and EQ-5D Questionnaires

In a study that is expanding on previous findings by Bergerot et al published in The Oncologist, researchers evaluated the perceived relevance of questions on the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Kidney Cancer Symptom Index-19 (FKSI-19), EORTC Quality of Life of Cancer Patients questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), and EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) among patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in a multi-institutional study. The results of the study will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2023 Annual Meeting.

Patients who had a confirmed RCC diagnosis were asked to evaluate the relevance of each question on the FKSI-19, EORTC QLQ-C30, and EQ-5D questionnaires. Questions were rated as relevant or nonrelevant. Patients also responded to 2 open-ended questions regarding topics not covered by these measures and their perception of wearable technologies. Questions were identified as meaningful if they acquired ≥66% “relevant” ratings.

A total of 116 patients were recruited for the study from Brazil and the United States. Most patients (69%) were male, with a median age of 64 years (range, 32-88 years); 83% were diagnosed with advanced disease, and 75% received immunotherapy and/or targeted therapy as primary treatment.

Few items were considered meaningful in each survey, including 8 of 19 FKSI-19 questions (lack of energy, fatigue, appetite, sleeping, worry, able to work, enjoyment, and quality of life), 3 of 30 EORTC QLQ-C30 questions (tired, overall health, and quality of life), and no EQ-5D questions.

Patients suggested questions that should be included, such as questions pertaining to treatment side effects, emotional symptoms, physical function, social/family support, and financial distress. Notably, 58% of patients were open to using wearable devices to determine health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

This study confirms previous findings that suggested that HRQoL measures for RCC require substantial refinement. The study data will be utilized in a future joint effort between experts and patients to develop a novel, RCC-specific HRQoL tool.