Perceptions of cisplatin-related toxicity among ovarian cancer patients and gynecologic oncologists

Background. We conducted a pilot study to evaluate issues related to chemotherapy-induced toxicities by eliciting assessments of toxicity from women with advanced stage ovarian cancer and gynecologic oncologists. Patients and methods. Fifteen ovarian cancer patients and ten gynecologic oncologists completed the survey exercises. All patients surveyed had received at least six courses of a cisplatin-containing chemotherapy regimen. Results. For both patients and physicians, there was good face validity to the utility exercise as assessments of health states with cisplatin were (1) consistently associated with less favorable assessments than the health state with no toxicity and (2) neurotoxicity was viewed less favorably than either ototoxicity or nephrotoxicity. While the 15 patients as a group viewed health states with toxicity more favorably than physicians (P < 0.05 for each toxicity), patient assessments varied, depending on individual experiences with cisplatin. Physician assessments of toxicity were most similar to those obtained from patients who had not experienced cisplatin toxicity and were less favorable than those elicited from patients who had experienced any toxicity. Conclusions. In deciding upon therapeutic strategies, women with advanced stage ovarian cancer and treating physicians markedly differ in their assessment of the impact of specific toxicities on quality of life.