ASCO: App-Facilitated Palliative Care Improves HRQOL in Advanced Cancer

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By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, Senior Medical Editor, B. Pharm. Last updated on June 3, 2026.

via HealthDay

WEDNESDAY, June 3, 2026 -- For patients with advanced cancer, an app-facilitated palliative care intervention helps to maintain health-related quality of life (HRQOL), according to a study published online May 31 in JAMA Network Open to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held from May 29 to June 2 in Chicago.

Wing-Lok Chan, M.B.B.S., from the University of Hong Kong, and colleagues examined whether an app-facilitated palliative care intervention integrating digital symptom monitoring with nurse-led clinical follow-up can improve outcomes for patients with advanced cancer in a multicenter trial. Community-dwelling adults with advanced solid cancer who were no longer receiving systemic anticancer treatment were randomly assigned to digital symptom monitoring plus usual care or usual care alone (590 and 624 individuals, respectively).

The researchers found that at week 18, HRQOL was better maintained with digital symptom monitoring. The mean changes from baseline favored the intervention versus usual care for EuroQol 5-dimension 5-level (EQ-5D) utility and the EQ-5D visual analogue scale (mean difference in change, −0.15 and −6.09 points, respectively). Better maintenance of self-efficacy was seen with the digital symptom monitoring intervention (mean difference, −0.53). The groups had similar deterioration in Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status and emergency department utilization. Better hospitalization outcomes, including fewer participants with worsening unplanned hospitalization episodes and fewer inpatient days during follow-up, were seen with digital symptom monitoring.

"Proactively monitoring symptoms using a digital platform, combined with timely nurse follow-up, can help maintain quality of life and reduce unplanned hospitalizations," Chan said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2026-06-04 03:51

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