Use of the PALLIA 10 Score in Patients Enrolled in Phase I Trials at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center
Abstract Background Early phase clinical trials usually include patients with advanced disease who have failed standard therapies. Early palliative care for these patients has shown to improve quality of life and even survival. PALLIA 10 score (ranging from 1 to 10) is a tool developed by the French Palliative Care Society to identify the best time to introduce palliative care. Methods We assessed the PALLIA 10 score and other prognostic factors (age, ECOG, Royal Marsden Hospital (RMH) score, LDH and albumin levels, number of prior systemic treatments and metastatic sites) in patients enrolled in phase I trials at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center prospectively during 2 periods of time (cohort 1 (C1) and 2 (C2)). A double-blind assessment of the PALLIA 10 score was done during 15 days by a member of the palliative care unit in C2. A PALLIA 10 > 3 motivated a dedicated palliative care consultation. Results From July 1st 2018 to November 1st 2018 (C1) and from December 1st 2020 to April 16th 2021 (C2), a total of 86 patients were assessed in C1 and 302 in C2. No difference was observed between the two cohorts regarding prognostic factors. Median PALLIA 10 was also similar and very low (median 1, range 1-5 in C1 and 1-8 in C2). On C1 and C2, 12% and 5% of patients had a dedicated palliative consultation. Overall, 77% and 74% of patients in C1 and C2 were still alive beyond 3 months after discontinuation of the trial (p=0.78), followed by at least one subsequent treatment in 63% and 70% of pts. In C2, assessment of PALLIA 10 score was significantly different between palliative care physician (median 5, range 3-8), phase I physician (median 1, range 1 -6) and phase I nurse (median 3, range 1-8) (p<0.001). Conclusion Only a few patients included in phase I clinical trial were referred to the palliative care unit. Median PALLIA 10 score was low when assessed by the phase I physician which suggests the need for a better tool to implement early palliative care in clinical practice and trials.