Digital reporting technologies created by UNC Lineberger researchers are now being used in North Carolina and across the country to improve care and outcomes for cancer patients.
Research led by Ethan Basch, MD, MSc, FASCO, the Richard M. Goldberg Distinguished Professor in Medical Oncology, chief of oncology at UNC School of Medicine and co-leader of UNC Lineberger’s Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program, sparked the creation of electronic patient-reported outcomes (PRO) tools that patients can use at home to self-report on symptoms and side effects.
Work by his research team over more than 20 years has led to changes in how the FDA advises pharmaceutical companies to study drugs, how data systems in hospitals function and how billing codes are used in cancer care clinics — all have become more patient centered, which is the mission of Basch and his team.
Their early studies showed that cancer patients often suffer from symptoms and side effects between doctors’ visits that go undetected and under-addressed. To remedy this, Basch and his colleagues, with support from the University Cancer Research Fund and other funding sources, built new digital tools to collect symptom and side-effect information directly from patients, and then to convey concerning patient-reported symptoms to care teams to prompt timely management.
They developed these tools here in North Carolina and then tested them nationally in 52 community oncology practices across 26 states and found they improved clinicians’ awareness of patient symptoms and accelerated care — leading to better symptom control, improved quality of life, fewer hospitalizations and even longer survival for cancer patients.
PRO tools based directly on the UNC work are now widely available in both the United States and Europe through electronic health record systems like Epic and are being used in global clinical trials to develop new cancer drugs in a more patient-centered way. In recognition of their work, Basch and his UNC Lineberger colleagues received the prestigious 2025 Clinical Innovation Award from the medical information platform Healio and City of Hope, one of the nation’s largest cancer care and research organizations.
“Patients experience many of their side effects between visits. Using electronic tools so we can understand how they are feeling and intervene quickly when needed is becoming a standard of care in high-quality cancer care,” Basch said. “It is gratifying to see the impact of our work here at UNC. There are multiple researchers here focused on ways to make cancer care more focused on the patient and their family, which is one of the striking qualities of research at UNC and support from the UCRF.”
To make these resources more widely available, UNC Lineberger is now leading a national initiative called OncoPRO to provide health systems with training guidance, patient education materials, knowledge on billing codes and technical support. Through this program, and in partnership with the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Cancer Society, more than 20 health systems around the country — including UNC Health, East Carolina University, Wake Forest University and Duke University — are implementing PROs, with more coming online this year.
“It’s an exciting time for PROs,” Basch said, “and UNC is leading the way.”