Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41873814›Full record

ArticleBJS open2025

Meta-core outcome set for randomized trials and clinical practice for curative surgical oncology: patient and healthcare consensus statement.

Joel Tay, Jane Blazeby, Declan Devane, Yoon Loke, Aoife Lowery, Adam O'Neill, Catherine Robinson, Ceri Steele, Bilal Alkhaffaf, Jamie Kirkham

Abstract readConsensus Statement
In one paragraph

Article in BJS open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Joel TayCentre for Biostatistics, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6939-3442
Jane BlazebyNIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3354-3330
Declan DevaneHealth Research Board-Trials Methodology Research Network (HRB-TMRN), Galway, Ireland.
Yoon LokeNorwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9109-2307
Aoife LoweryDiscipline of Surgery, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Adam O'NeillSocial Care and Society, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Catherine RobinsonSocial Care and Society, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Ceri SteeleIndependent Cancer Patients' Voice, London, UK.
Bilal AlkhaffafFaculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5751-1846
Jamie KirkhamCentre for Biostatistics, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

Funding

Health Research Board HRB-TMRN-2021-001Irish Cancer Society CRLALOW22
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe development and use of core outcome sets (COSs) have the potential to inform best practice in healthcare treatment options by facilitating data synthesis across studies. In surgical oncology, eight cancer-specific COSs exist, and these overlap in content. The development of a meta-COS that includes the core outcomes from existing cancer data sets would be applicable, as a minimum, across all cancer types in surgical oncology for use in effectiveness trials and clinical practice.

methodsThe process of developing a meta-COS included identification of the existing COS and their discussion with 3 different stakeholder focus groups (surgeons/oncologists, other healthcare professionals, and patients and carers). Outcomes were identified through a review of the literature and registered clinical trials. Stakeholders representing healthcare professionals (surgeons/oncologists and others) were recruited from national societies, regional cancer networks, and local trial centres, whereas patients and carers were recruited using independent representative organizations. The aim was to include at least two individuals from each group for the ten common cancers requiring surgery. These ten cancer types were regarded as the commonest based on global incidence in World Cancer Research Fund data. An agreed-upon list of outcomes was scored in a two-round online Delphi survey (March-May 2025). The results of this survey were discussed and ratified at an online consensus meeting (June 2025) by Delphi participants who completed both rounds, members of the stakeholder groups, and patients. The 80% threshold defined consensus.

resultsForty-five participants completed both survey rounds, and 15 participated in the consensus meeting. Of 317 outcomes initially identified, 35 were discussed with stakeholders, 32 were scored in Delphi rounds, and consensus was achieved on eight core outcomes to include in the surgical oncology meta-COS: overall survival, disease-free survival, disease-specific survival, death related to surgery, delay to further treatment, completeness of tumour removal, overall quality of life, and serious adverse events.

conclusionThis meta-COS for surgical oncology offers a standard set of outcomes to be used in surgical oncology studies and clinical practice, regardless of cancer type.

Indexed as

NeoplasmsOutcome Assessment, Health CareRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicSurgical OncologyDelphi TechniqueHumanscancer surgeryCOMETDelphi

Identifiers

PMID41873814
PMCPMC13010334

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.