This post-hoc analysis of the iBLAD trial investigates the association of patient-reported symptoms with survival in bladder cancer (BC) patients during and after oncological treatment.

Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) are increasingly being used in clinical and research settings to assess self-reported symptoms during oncological treatment [Citation1,Citation2]. The FDA and EMA recommend the inclusion of PROs in all clinical research studies [Citation3,Citation4]. Furthermore, the active use of PROs compared to standard care for symptom-handling during cancer therapy has been shown to improve QoL and even survival [Citation5,Citation6]. More studies have demonstrated how PROs can be used as a complementary tool to assess, monitor and manage symptoms during oncological treatment [Citation7–10].

Several studies have also shown that patient-reported outcome measures can serve as a prognostic tool [Citation6,Citation9,Citation11–13]. PRO measures associated with decreased survival include fatigue, global health, quality of life, pain, loss of appetite and physical function [Citation6,Citation9,Citation11,Citation13–15].

This study aims to evaluate the prognostic significance of patient self-reported symptom scores using the Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE, henceforth PRO) and secondly to identify symptoms associated with reduced survival in BC.