Patient preferences for oral versus intravenous palliative chemotherapy

To assess patient preference for oral versus intravenous (i.v.) palliative chemotherapy (CT). A strong preference would be an important quality-of-life issue.

A structured interviewer-administered scenario-based questionnaire evaluated incurable cancer patients who would be likely to receive palliative CT in the future. Using probability trade-offs, the preference for route of administration was evaluated against diminishing treatment response.

Of 103 assessable patients, 92 preferred oral CT, 10 preferred i.v. CT, and one had no preference. Patient preferences were not associated with age, sex, site of primary cancer, or previous CT experiences. Major reasons for preferring oral CT were convenience, problems with i.v. access or needles, and a better CT-taking environment (outside of the clinic). Regardless of initial preference, 70% of patients were not willing to accept a lower response rate and 74% were not willing to accept a shorter duration of response to retain their initial preference. Although 99% of patients had a preference, 39% wanted the specific treatment decision made primarily by their physicians, 38% primarily by themselves, and 22% shared equally.

Patients with incurable cancer have a clear preference for oral CT, but are generally not willing to sacrifice efficacy for their preference. Almost 40% of patients did not want to make final treatment decisions themselves.