Does the assessment of the quality of life in metastatic colon cancer in clinical practice make sense? Voice for discussion

In addition to such indicators as overall survival, disease-free survival, or response rates, an important determinant of the new clinical standard in oncology is the toxicity of treatment and the quality of life of patients being treated. Despite the search for new therapeutic agents, there are still many doubts regarding the quality of life (QOL) of patients treated in clinical practice. In the past, the lack of influence of the treatment on the improvement of the quality of life of the treated colon cancer patients has been proven. The results of the assessment of quality of life parameters from papers published from daily clinical practice were compared to the results of randomised phase III trials.Many factors independent of the therapy, such as: other concomitant diseases, non-oncology treatment, oncological knowledge and the resulting health-enhancing lifestyle and other effects on QOL. Previous QOL questionnaires may be insufficient, especially for the population treated in daily clinical practice. Because measuring the quality of life is not enough in itself, action should be taken to improve the quality of life, either through more realistic expectations or by encouraging individuals to develop. Emphasis should be placed on the positive aspects of improving the quality of life. Critical evaluation of interventions aimed at changing the quality of life is essential, especially when its result is to translate from a randomised clinical trial into everyday clinical practice under institutions appointed to introduce new therapeutic standards.