31 May 2016 - The ASCO Value in Cancer Care Task Force set out to develop a framework that would enable a physician and patient to assess the value of a particular cancer treatment regimen given the patient’s individual preferences and circumstances.

The value framework has been constructed as a conceptual model that incorporates the elements of clinical benefit, toxicity, and symptom palliation as derived from a comparative clinical trial and combines these elements into a score termed the net health benefit.

ASCO sought feedback on the conceptual value framework from a wide array of stakeholders to ensure that future iterations would more effectively meet the needs of practicing oncologists and their patients. The majority of respondents agreed with the need for a formal approach to define the value of cancer treatments and supported the development of a tool to facilitate one-on-one discussions with patients regarding the relative value of various treatment options. Respondents also provided specific suggestions for strengthening the framework or identified concerns with the approach. The issues that were raised and the suggestions offered can be aggregated by themes.

The revised versions of the framework capture advanced disease and adjuvant settings.

For more details, go to: http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2016/05/25/JCO.2016.68.2518?cmpid=jco_pap_31May2016