Patient and clinician priorities for information on treatment outcomes for advanced ovarian cancer: a Delphi exercise

Objective: Patients with advanced ovarian cancer face a range of treatment options, and there is unwarranted variation in treatment decision-making between UK providers. Decision support tools that produce data on treatment outcomes as a function of individual patient characteristics, would help both patients and clinicians to make informed, preference-and values-based choices. However, data on treatment outcomes to include in such tools are lacking. Methods: Following a literature review, a questionnaire was designed for use in a Delphi process to establish which treatment outcomes are important to both patients and clinicians in decision-making for treatment for advanced ovarian cancer. Patient and clinician panels were established. Results: Following 2 Delphi rounds, consensus was achieved for 7/11 items in the patient panel and 8/11 items in the clinician panel. Consensus across both panels was achieved for inclusion of both overall survival and progression free survival as important items in the decision-making process, although there remained differences of opinion as to whether these should be presented as relative or absolute values. Conclusion: Information needs for treatment decision-making in ovarian cancer differ between and within patient and clinician groups. Whilst overall survival and progression free survival are universally accepted as important data items, decision support tools will need to be nuanced to allow presentation of a range of outcomes and associated probabilities, and in a range of formats, that can be tailored to the preferences of clinician and patients.