LUGANO – Details of the first study by one of Europe’s largest cancer centres, the Medical University of Vienna (MUV), assessing the clinical impact and feasibility of the ESMO Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (MCBS) in a real-life context are now available on ESMO Open (1).
By systematically evaluating well-established oncologic treatment strategies from first-line to salvage treatment throughout major tumour entities, the MUV team’s results show that the ESMO-MCBS works very reliably and reproducibly in the field of advanced or metastatic disease and encourages its use in daily routine.
Dr Barbara Kiesewetter at MUV says, “It is remarkable to see that certain new treatments such as checkpoint inhibitors improve outcome impressively in comparison with recent treatment standards, as assessed by the ESMO-MCBS: such important compounds should be recommended for fast-track implementation in practice.”
“We analysed treatments and scored trials on the ESMO-MCBS and the resulting data was in line with clinical experience. As a result, our Programme Directors feel confident to use the ESMO-MCBS, particularly for novel treatments such as immunotherapy, to get an idea on what can be expected to support clinicians’ decision-making in practice.”
The ESMO-MCBS has been designed to assess the therapeutic benefit of drugs registered for the treatment of cancer and was tested in a range of solid tumours during its initial development process (2). The ESMO-MCBS considers the predefined primary and secondary study endpoints: overall survival and progress-free survival in terms of absolute gain and lower end of the 95% confidence interval of the corresponding hazard ratio and quality of life or toxicity respectively. Data of the new treatment is then analysed with respect to the duration of response or survival in the control arm, which has to be entered in corresponding forms and results in a clinical benefit ranking.
“The ESMO-MCBS is very simple to use and we feel that it is going to prove to be a very important tool for daily clinical practice based on our study results. Clinicians can go back to the data when considering new treatments and use the ESMO-MCBS online forms to analyse what can be expected from a new approach.” concludes Dr Kiesewetter.
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For further information, interview requests and images, please contact:
ESMO Press Office, European Society for Medical Oncology
Tel: +41 (0)91 9731904 Email: media@esmo.org
Notes to Editors
References
- Kiesewetter, B., Raderer, M., Steger, G. G., Bartsch, R., Pirker, R., Zöchbauer-Müller, S., Prager, G., Krainer, M., Preusser, M., Schmidinger, M., & Zielinski, C. C. (2016). The European Society for Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale in daily practice: a single institution, real-life experience at the Medical University of Vienna. ESMO Open, 1(4), e000066. Accessed July 06, 2016.
- Ciardiello, F., & Tabernero, J. (2016). Applying the ESMO-magnitude of clinical benefit scale in real life. ESMO Open, 1(4), e000090. Accessed July 06, 2016.
About ESMO
ESMO is the leading professionnal organisation for medical oncology. With more than 13,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 130 countries, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. We are committed to supporting our members to develop and advance in a fast-evolving professional environment.
ESMO’s educational resources support an integrated, multi-professional approach to cancer care. We have European roots and a global reach: we welcome oncology professionals from around the world and we seek to erase boundaries in cancer care as we pursue our mission across oncology, worldwide.
About ESMO Open
ESMO Open, the open access journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology, is an online-only peer-reviewed oncology journal focusing on innovative clinical and translational cancer research, oncology policy and education.
The journal publishes research in all disciplines of oncology including experimental, translational, diagnostic and therapeutic areas related to oncology. Article types include original articles, reviews, editorials and correspondence. In addition the journal welcomes: study protocols, phase I trials and meta-analyses.
ESMO Open also publishes reviews from important ESMO conferences and meetings and takes straight radiotherapy and surgery papers.
The strong focus on digital and multimedia content e.g. podcasts, videos, blogs etc., will complement the research content, and aims to provide an ‘open community platform’ for oncologists.
With the widest possible reach and an international editorial board of experts and key opinion leaders, ESMO Open aims to rapidly disseminate the best in innovative clinical and translational cancer research and improve the quality of education, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and patient care worldwide.