Prediction tool developed to determine benefit of blood cancer treatment

(c) 2022 Kite_rin/Shutterstock - Since its introduction in 2015, a prediction tool developed by the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) has been providing support worldwide in the assessment of the clinical benefits of new cancer therapies. However, previously available versions proved unsuitable for use with malignant diseases of the blood, such as different types of leukaemias or lymphomas. But now this gap has been filled: an international research team with the lead author from MedUni Vienna has succeeded in developing a prediction tool for blood cancer therapies. The study has just been published in highly respected journal Annals of Oncology. In their research, first author Barbara Kiesewetter from the Division of Oncology at MedUni Vienna's Department of Medicine I and an international scientific team used the tool introduced in 2015 to quantify the clinical benefit of new cancer therapies. Known as the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (EMSO-MCBS), it was developed by the European Society for Medical Oncology and revised in 2017. To this day it is still recognised among experts as the best validated tool for assessing the potential clinical benefit of new cancer therapies, and is widely used internationally.