ABSTRACT
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is affected in a complex way by the person's physical health, psychological state, the level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs, and their relationship to salient features of their environment. Cancer patients are concerned about their HRQoL during and after treatment. This chapter discusses the reasons why HRQoL is important. It describes the differences between cancer-specific and generic HRQoL measures. The chapter shows an example of how utilities can be constructed from generic HRQoL measures for economic evaluation, focusing on the EQ-5D. New methodology was introduced on modeling HRQoL for economic evaluation in cancer by investigating the behavior of post-progression utility–a common issue in many health technology appraisal. The chapter explores the issues around the use of HRQoL measures in cost-effectiveness analyses of cancer drugs. Patients with cancer often have progressive disease during or after anti-cancer treatment.
