Understanding the Symptoms and Impacts of Living with Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: A Prospective, Noninterventional Qualitative Study

This study aimed to understand the symptoms and impacts of living with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (mPC) by conducting interviews with 16 patients and 3 caregivers. The most frequently reported symptoms included tiredness, fatigue, nausea, weight loss, diarrhea, and hair loss/thinning, while common impacts were anxiety, reduced physical functioning, and worry/fear of disease. The study led to the refinement of a conceptual model by adding two symptoms and four impacts, and removing 31 symptoms and 11 impacts, resulting in a model with 40 symptoms and 26 impacts. The findings highlight the importance of selecting appropriate patient-reported outcome measures to better reflect the experiences of mPC patients in clinical trials.