Development of a disease specific quality of life (QoL) questionnaire module to supplement the EORTC core cancer QoL questionnaire, the QLQ-C30 in patients with pancreatic cancer

There is overwhelming consensus that quality of Life assessment is urgently required in pancreatic cancer, yet little research has been conducted. We report on the development of a disease specific questionnaire module to sup plement the EORTC core cancer module, the QLQ-C30 in patients with pancreat ic cancer, using EORTC quality of life study group guidelines for module de velopment. Relevant QoL issues were generated from literature searches and interviews with health professionals and patients with pancreatic cancer. I ssues were constructed into items and provisionally translated. The provisi onal module was pretested in patients in 8 European centres. The resulting module the QLQ-PAN26 includes 26 items related to disease symptoms, treatme nt side-effects and emotional issues specific to pancreatic cancer. This sh ould ensure that the module will be sensitive to assess the small but impor tant disease and treatment related QoL changes in pancreatic cancer. The us e of the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-PAN26 will provide a comprehensive system of QoL a ssessment in international trials of pancreatic cancer. (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience Ltd. All rights reserved.