Patient-Centered Outcomes in Bladder Cancer

To summarize current knowledge on patient-prioritized outcomes for their bladder cancer care.

Patient-centered outcomes research seeks to help patients identify the right treatment for the right patient at the right time in their care. As such, patient-centered outcomes research relies on studying a treatment's impact on patient-centered outcomes. Some outcomes, like survival, are commonly prioritized by patients and by clinical experts. Patients often place greater emphasis than experts on quality of life outcomes. Thus, many patient-centered outcomes are also patient-reported outcomes. Unique domains that are often prioritized by patients, but overlooked by experts, include the costs and financial impact of care, anxiety, and depression related to a health condition, and the impact of a condition or its treatment on a caregiver or loved one. Patient-centered outcomes are realizing greater recognition for their innate importance and potential to augment the impact of research studies. Although patient-centered outcomes are often patient-reported outcomes, this is not universal. Unique to bladder cancer, the availability of a research-oriented Patient Survey Network intended to identify research questions that are important to patients may be an opportunity to broadly solicit input on patient-centered outcomes for bladder cancer research questions.