The consensus studysquamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx: late phase clinical trials; core outcomes

Background Contemporary treatments for Oropharyngeal cancer (OPSCC) are associated with a number of debilitating side-effects. Whilst these have a significant impact on the patient’s quality of life, they are often not measured in clinical trials of new treatments. In fact, patients and those involved in their care are rarely involved in such outcome selection. As a result, the outcomes chosen are often not relevant to patients or may have little clinical application, and important outcomes may not be measured at all. Furthermore, there is no standardisation of outcome selection and reporting, even amongst trials of comparable interventions. This reduces the data available for meta-analyses leading to difficulties in interpreting a treatment’s effectiveness and in making evidence based healthcare decisions. Outcome reporting bias has also been highlighted as a significant problem in the healthcare literature.