Longitudinal Assessment of Health Utility Scores, Symptoms and Toxicities in Patients with Small Cell Cancer Real World Data

Health utility scores in SCLC patients are mostly reported from clinical trials. This real-world study evaluated EQ-5D-derived health utility scores in 111 outpatients across 282 encounters. Longitudinal mean health utility scores by treatment and line of therapy are presented, alongside relationships with metastatic sites, symptoms and toxicities. These data inform real-world benefits of current and upcoming SCLC therapies. Introduction: Recent advances in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) treatments necessitate a better understanding of real world health utility scores (HUS) in patients treated under current standards to facilitate robust pharmaco-economic assessments. Methods: In this single institution cohort observational study, HUS were evaluated in patients with SCLC through EQ-5D questionnaires at outpatient visits (encounters). In addition, patients completed questionnaires relating to treatment toxicities and cancer symptoms. Clinical and pathological variables were abstracted from electronic medical records and disease status at each patient visit was documented. The impact of these variables on HUS were explored. Results: There were 282 clinical encounters (12% newly diagnosed; 37% stable on treatment; 22% progressing on treatment; 29% stable off therapy/other) in 111 SCLC patients (58% male; 64% extensive stage (ES) SCLC). At the first encounter 29% of patients had an ECOG performance status (PS) >= 2. ES-SCLC, bone metastases, female sex, progressive disease and/or PS were each significantly associated with decreased HUS in multivariable analyses. Patients clinically stable on first line therapy had generally steady HUS longitudinally, with differences in HUS between limited disease (LD) and ES patients emerging as treatment progressed. Decreased HUS were associated with increased severity of the majority of measured symptoms (fatigue/tiredness, loss of appetite, pain, drowsiness, shortness of breath, anxiety, depression, and overall well-being; each p < 0.001), supporting the value of EQ-5D-derived HUS in assessing health utility. Conclusion: Our HUS values in chemotherapy-treated SCLC are clinically relevant and are associated with specific clinico-demographic, symptom and toxicity factors.