Julia Rowland, PhD

The Clinical Trials Referral Resource that appeared in the April issue of ONCOLOGY began a series on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Part I of this series, which concludes this month, focuses on HRQOL questions in cancer treatment trials. Part II (on investigator-initiated HRQOL research) and part III (on HRQOL research as part of cancer prevention trials) will appear in upcoming issues. Information about these studies can be obtained from the contacts listed for each trial or from Edward L. Trimble, MD, MPH, at the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP), trimble@ctep.nci.nih.gov or (301) 496-1196

Over the past 15 years, research into the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of cancer patients has expanded dramatically. We have seen the development of a variety of instruments to assess both global HRQOL as well as cancer-specific symptoms. These instruments have been validated in a variety of populations. Many of the instruments have been translated into multiple languages. We have also seen the development of instruments to evaluate HRQOL in children and in adults with low literacy levels. We have learned how to integrate HRQOL questions into cancer clinical trials and how to facilitate the collection of QOL data from patients and their families. We are now beginning to evaluate interventions to maintain and enhance HRQOL among cancer patients and cancer survivors.