What is it about?

The PRO-MOTE study was a nationwide randomized clinical trial conducted in Japan to evaluate whether electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) monitoring could improve outcomes for patients with advanced or metastatic cancer receiving systemic therapy. Patients in the intervention group reported symptoms weekly using a smartphone or tablet application. These reports were automatically shared with healthcare providers, allowing earlier identification and management of symptoms.

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Why is it important?

Cancer patients often experience symptoms between clinic visits. Previous studies from the United States and Europe suggested that electronic symptom monitoring could improve quality of life and, in some settings, even prolong survival. However, healthcare systems differ across countries. Before PRO-MOTE, it remained unclear whether similar benefits would be observed within Japan's universal healthcare system.

Perspectives

Since publication of this protocol, the study has been completed and the primary results were presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Although the co-primary endpoints of global quality of life and overall survival were not significantly improved, patients in the ePRO monitoring group showed better preservation of several important functional domains and symptom outcomes, including physical functioning, role functioning, emotional functioning, cognitive functioning, fatigue, dyspnea, and insomnia. These findings suggest that ePRO monitoring may still provide meaningful benefits for patients, even when improvements in overall survival are not observed. ASCO 2026 Abstract: https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2026.44.16_suppl.11004

Naomi Kiyota
Kobe University Hospital

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Multicenter, open-label, randomized, controlled study to test the utility of electronic patient-reported outcome monitoring in patients with unresectable advanced cancers or metastatic/recurrent solid tumors, Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology, February 2025, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1093/jjco/hyaf033.
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