Opinion
Video
Shaping the Future of mCRC: What Matters, What’s Next, and What to Watch
Panelists discuss how future research in refractory metastatic colorectal cancer must prioritize patient-centered approaches by incorporating patient advocates to understand what patients truly value and care about most, citing the example of rectal cancer where clinicians focus on recurrence risk while patients prioritize ostomy concerns, emphasizing that historically clinical trial design has not adequately asked patients about their priorities, and explaining that staying current with rapidly evolving data requires multidisciplinary strategies including journal clubs with board-certified oncology pharmacists, morning huddle meetings for clinical pearls, pharmacy resident presentations, professional organization memberships like ASCO for daily updates, and increasingly using social media platforms like Twitter as starting points to identify relevant clinical developments before delving deeper into primary literature.
Future research in refractory metastatic colorectal cancer must prioritize patient-centered approaches that incorporate patient advocates and directly address what patients value most in their treatment outcomes. Historically, clinical trial design has operated in isolation from patient perspectives, leading to misalignment between clinician priorities and patient concerns. A compelling example from rectal cancer research revealed that while clinicians focused on recurrence risk, patients were primarily concerned about ostomy outcomes, highlighting the critical gap between provider and patient priorities. This disconnect underscores the need for meaningful patient engagement in study design to ensure research addresses real-world patient needs and values, particularly in late-line therapy where few patients survive to receive multiple treatments.
The emphasis on patient-centered research extends to incorporating quality of life assessments and ensuring that clinical expectations align with patient values at different stages of disease progression. Pharmacists and clinicians often discover mid-conversation that their initial assumptions about patient priorities require immediate adjustment, emphasizing the importance of understanding individual patient perspectives before making treatment recommendations. Future clinical trial designs should gear toward the specific patient populations being studied, incorporating their unique concerns and treatment goals to generate more meaningful and applicable evidence for clinical practice.
Staying current with rapidly evolving data requires multidisciplinary approaches combining traditional and modern information sources. Pharmacy teams utilize journal clubs with board-certified oncology pharmacists, morning huddle meetings featuring clinical pearls from new trials, and pharmacy residents presenting concise trial reviews to manage the overwhelming volume of emerging information. Clinicians rely on professional organization memberships like ASCO for daily updates, educational meetings for scientific presentations, and increasingly turn to social media platforms like Twitter for real-time information filtering and meeting highlights. The key strategy involves using social media and online platforms as starting points to identify relevant topics, then delving deeper into primary literature when content applies to current clinical practice, creating an efficient system for staying informed while managing information overload.
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