New study confirms a key quality of life tool can be used with adolescents with cancer

Understanding how cancer affects daily life is especially important for adolescents, whose physical, emotional and social needs differ from both children and adults. A new international study¹ from the EORTC Quality of Life Group (QLG) shows that the EORTC QLQ-C30, the most widely used cancer quality of life questionnaire worldwide, is valid and acceptable for adolescents aged 12–17 years.

Published in Cancer Medicine, the study, led by Samantha C. Sodergren, evaluated the questionnaire in 200 adolescents with cancer from 10 countries, covering different languages, cultures, cancer types and treatment settings. Participants completed the QLQ-C30 alongside a pediatric questionnaire and provided feedback on clarity, relevance and ease of completion.

Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) are now central to cancer research and care, yet adolescents remain underrepresented in clinical trials. One barrier has been the lack of validated quality of life tools that allow adolescents to be assessed consistently alongside adults.

Until now, the QLQ-C30 had been formally validated only for adults, despite its use in some younger populations. This study is the first systematic evaluation of the questionnaire in adolescents.

“Adolescents with cancer are often caught between pediatric and adult research, which can limit how well their experiences are captured,” said Dr Samantha C. Sodergren, lead author of the study. “Our findings show that the QLQ-C30 works well for adolescents and can give them a strong, reliable voice in clinical research.“

The study found that the QLQ-C30:

• Is acceptable and feasible, with high completion rates and an average completion time of around 12 minutes;
• Demonstrates good reliability and validity across key quality of life domains;
• Identifies issues that are meaningful for this age group, particularly related to physical functioning, fatigue and overall well being.

While some items were noted as less age specific, overall feedback confirmed that the questionnaire reflects important aspects of adolescents’ cancer experiences.

“Validating the QLQ-C30 for adolescents is an important step toward more inclusive cancer trials,” said Prof. Anne-Sophie Darlington, senior author and Principal Investigator. “It supports a life course approach to quality of life assessment and helps ensure adolescents are not excluded from research because of measurement gaps.

The findings support using the QLQ-C30 as a core quality of life measure for adolescents in clinical trials and research, alongside age specific instruments where appropriate. This approach helps strengthen adolescent participation in trials and ensures their experiences inform future cancer care.

This work complements the EORTC Quality of Life Group’s broader efforts to improve quality of life assessment across adolescence and young adulthood. In parallel, the same team within the EORTC Quality of Life Group has developed the EORTC QLQ-AYA30, a questionnaire specifically designed to capture unique issues faced by adolescents and young adults aged 14–39 years who are living with or beyond a cancer diagnosis. Used together, these tools support a comprehensive, life course approach to PROs. More information about the QLQ-AYA30 is available here.

¹ S. C. Sodergren, D. Riedl, J. Hossain, et al., “Assessing the Validity and Acceptability of an Adult Quality of Life Questionnaire, the EORTC QLQ-C30, for Adolescents With Cancer,” Cancer Medicine15, no. 5 (2026): e71952, https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.71952.

The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation, which unites clinical cancer research experts, throughout Europe, to define better treatments for cancer patients to prolong survival and improve quality of life. Spanning from translational to large, prospective, multi-centre, phase III clinical trials that evaluate new therapies and treatment strategies as well as patient quality of life, its activities are coordinated from EORTC Headquarters, a unique international clinical research infrastructure, based in Brussels, Belgium.

The EORTC Quality of Life Group (QLG) strives to improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of cancer patients, through dedicated research and the use of HRQoL measures within cancer clinical trials and clinical practice. HRQoL constitutes an important aspect of cancer research and care: it gives a voice to patients, putting their experience at the forefront. The QLG is part of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).

Caroline Hance (EORTC Quality of Life Group Communications)
caroline.hance@eortc.org