Results from a Myeloma UK study, in which myeloma patients participated in a survey to determine individual preferences for treatment outcomes, have been published in The Oncologist. The survey, which was based on multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) and swing weighting, asked patients to state their preference for the following outcomes of treatment; an increase in the probability of achieving 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) from 50% – 90%, a decrease in the probability of experiencing moderate toxicity for 2 months or longer from 85% – 45%, or a decrease in the probability of experiencing severe toxicity from 80% – 20%.
The results show that the average weight given to increasing the probability of achieving PFS was higher than that given to decreasing the likelihood of experiencing moderate and severe toxicity combined. Furthermore, the demographic data collected through this survey showed that the patients who gave preference to decreasing the probability of experiencing severe toxicity tended to be younger, with work and care commitments, and had experienced severe side effects previously.
The researchers suggest that studies such as this have the potential to become tools for gathering patient opinions in a systematic way to help inform regulatory and treatment decisions.