Applying the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale in real life

Our level of understanding of the biology of cancer at this point in time is amazing and continues to increase. Each year we know more and more about the fundamental mechanisms of tumour growth and progression of the disease.Thanks to this improved knowledge we are able to evaluate new drugs that in some instances are very effective. We even have biomarkers that define a population of patients that may benefit more from the treatment. In some other patients we don't have such biomarkers and the benefit is only incremental. This does not mean that the treatment is not good, but the maximum effect can be considered very modest.The European Society for Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) offers an opportunity to grade the effect of these new drugs in each tumour and even in each indication. The tool enables us to gather important information on the real impact of any drug in the different settings in which a drug may be approved.Using data from phase III clinical trials or meta-analyses, the tool uses a rational, structured and consistent approach to derive a relative ranking of the magnitude of benefit than can be anticipated from any new treatment. As the authors of the paper in Annals of Oncology in May 2015 concluded, “the ESMO-MCBS is an important first step to the major ongoing task of evaluating value in cancer care …