Abstract for: Health-related Quality of Life of Patients Receiving Immunotherapy: Modeling Analysis (Q-PRIMA study)

Immunotherapy is a promising cancer treatment; however, assessing the impact of the treatment on patients’ Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) poses challenges due to the multi-faceted nature of HRQoL. We built a simulation model to study the dynamics of HRQoL of cancer patients receiving Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. The model focuses on five interconnected factors affecting HRQoL: physical well-being, psychological well-being, tumor burden, receipt and efficacy of immunotherapy, and side effects and their management. We used the model to project the effects of five strategies for HRQoL improvement: reducing the delay in CAR T-cell infusion, providing bridging treatment, increasing recognition of side effect symptoms, supporting psychological well-being, and supporting physical well-being. The results show overall worse-before-better dynamics for HRQoL and a tipping dynamic across the effects of strategies on HRQoL. Reducing the delay in CAR T-cell infusion is the most effective strategy to improve HRQoL both in the short and long term due to its ability to mitigate the decline in HRQoL, promote the highest rate of recovery, and offer durable improvement in HRQoL over time. If CAR T-cell infusion is delayed, combining all other four strategies may be necessary to achieve an HRQoL improvement.