Copying a snippet of the FDA response to advocate’s petition (that would be me) along with links to the full text and the original petition. The issue remains. Quality of life is integral to the assessment of risk/benefit. The sponsor can include QoL comparisons selectively – when they anticipate a win.
"Dear Mr. Schwartz:
This letter responds to your citizen petition, which was received by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA or Agency) on March 11, 2022 (Petition).
The Petition requests that FDA amend the 2018 guidance for industry titled Clinical Trial Endpoints for the Approval of Cancer Drugs and Biologics (2018 Guidance) to require or strongly urge supplementary comparison of Qualify of Life-related patient-reported outcome (QoL-PRO) measures for certain surrogate endpoints in cancer clinical trials.
Specifically, the Petition requests that in amending the 2018 Guidance, FDA take the following actions:
• Provide guidance to clinical trialists, drug sponsors, and Institutional Review Boards regarding the need to capture and compare QoL-PROs as secondary (supplemental) endpoints – particularly when the primary endpoint is a surrogate for clinical benefit based on tumor imaging.
• Help to set standards for secondary QoL-PRO reporting, beginning with
ClinicalTrials.gov. This so that what is reported can be readily utilized to interpret the study results in order to guide clinical practice and better-informed patient choice.
FDA has carefully considered your Petition and acknowledges the importance of the issues it
raises. …
Full text of FDA response:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sfZ2YvXe9GB9VEKyTRE0dnLLwWYnVCBj?ths=true
Full text of our petition:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sfZ2YvXe9GB9VEKyTRE0dnLLwWYnVCBj?ths=true