Remote Patient-Reported Outcome Monitoring Empowers Patients With Cancer

TUESDAY, July 21, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Remote patient-reported outcome (PRO) monitoring may improve cancer care for underserved patients, according to a study recently published in JCO Oncology Practice.

Allison M. Deal, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues examined whether the effects of electronic symptom monitoring varied by race, age, sex, and educational attainment. The analysis included 1,191 adult patients with metastatic solid tumors receiving systemic therapy participating in the PRO-TECT trial and assigned to either remote symptom monitoring using PROs or usual care.

The researchers found that from baseline to three months, PRO participants showed greater improvements in symptom control (+2.37 versus −0.20) and physical function (+1.54 versus −0.93) compared with usual care. Among younger, female, Black, and less educated participants, the benefits of electronic symptom monitoring were most pronounced. Compared with White participants, Black participants in the PRO arm were more likely to report that symptom reporting made them feel more in control of their care.

“When novel technologies are developed, there is a risk that they might leave historically underserved groups behind, widening rather than reducing health disparities,” senior author Victoria Blinder, M.D., from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, said in a statement. “Here, we see that the opposite seems to be happening. Rather than exacerbating disparities, implementation of remote symptom monitoring is bridging an important communication gap and improving health care access for underserved groups.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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