Patient-reported outcome thresholds and their associations with survival, adverse events, and quality of life in a pooled analysis of breast cancer trials

Researchers at the EORTC recently recommended clinical thresholds for the QLQ-C30 to facilitate actionable insights in clinical practice. We evaluate the distribution of these thresholds and associations with outcomes in breast cancer. Data were pooled from two early-stage and six advanced-stage breast cancer trials. EORTC thresholds were applied to available QLQ-C30 data to identify clinically important PRO domains. Associations between the number of clinically important PRO domains at baseline with overall survival (OS), invasive-disease-free survival (IDFS), progression-free survival (PFS), grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs), and serious AEs were evaluated using Cox-regression. Data from 8544 breast cancer patients, of whom 2428 (41%) of the 5893 early-stage and 1486 (56%) of the 2651 advanced-stage patients reported ≥3 clinically important PRO domains. In the early-stage, each additional clinically important PRO domain was associated with worsened grade ≥3 AEs (HR, 1.03 [95%CI, 1.01–1.04], p = 0.001) and serious AEs (1.05 [1.03–1.07], p < 0.001). In the advanced-stage, each additional clinically important PRO domain was associated with worsened OS (1.05 [1.03–1.07], p < 0.001), PFS (1.03 [1.01–1.04], p = 0.002), grade ≥3 AEs (1.04 [1.02–1.06], p < 0.001), and serious AEs (1.07 [1.04–1.11], p < 0.001). A substantial proportion of breast cancer patients report clinically important PRO domains at baseline, with increasing numbers associated with worsening AEs, survival, and quality-of-life.