Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-7340, USA. minasilo@mail.nih.gov
For almost 30 years, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has sponsored health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) measures in cancer research as a means of including the patient's experience. The scope of NCI's research in symptom management and HRQOL is described with attention to its evolution over time and the next steps, through the Clinical Trials Working Group Recommendations.