Wing-Lok Chan MBBS; 2026 ASCO: Patients with Advanced Cancer Using The SUPPORT+ Mobile Phone App With Nurse Supervision have Better Quality of Life and Fewer Hospitalizations
Wing-Lok Chan MBBS
An interview with: Wing-Lok Chan MBBS, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Oncology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China CHICAGO, USA—Patients with advanced cancer had their quality of life preserved and required fewer hospitalizations when they monitored themselves digitally by using the SUPPORT+ mobile phone app prompting better self-management while giving regular access to guidance from a nurse. This was in a randomized controlled study reported to the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology by Wing-Lok Chan MBBS, from the Department of Clinical Oncology at the University of Hong Kong, in China. She talked about the findings with Peter Goodwin:
Patients with Advanced Cancer Using The SUPPORT+ Mobile Phone App With Nurse Supervision have Better Quality of Life and Fewer Hospitalizations
An interview with:
Wing-Lok Chan MBBS, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Oncology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
CHICAGO, USA—Patients with advanced cancer had their quality of life preserved and required fewer hospitalizations when they monitored themselves digitally by using the SUPPORT+mobile phone app prompting better self-management while giving regular access to guidance from a nurse.This was in a randomized controlled study reported to the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology by Wing-Lok Chan MBBS, from the Department of Clinical Oncology at the University of Hong Kong, in China. She talked about the findings with Peter Goodwin:
AUDIO JOURNAL OR ONOLOGY; Wing-Lok Chan MBBS
IN:[GOODWIN]”I am at the American ….
OUT:……. I’m Peter Goodwin.”9:23 secs
ASCO 2026 Abstract LBA12998:l
SUPPORT+ digital self management and clinical support for advanced cancer: A randomized controlled trial.
Background:
Patients with advanced cancer often experience distressing symptoms that impair HRQoL and lead to emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. Digital symptom monitoring tools enable earlier detection of symptoms, yet evidence in palliative care remains limited. This study evaluated whether SUPPORT+, a mobile app incorporating weekly symptom reporting using the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale (IPOS), automated self-management guidance, and nurse follow up for severe symptoms, improves outcomes when added to usual care for community dwelling patients with advanced cancer.
Methods:
A multi-centre RCT was conducted across 6 palliative care clinics in Hong Kong (Jan 2023–Feb 2025). Patients with advanced cancers no longer receiving systemic treatment were randomized 1:1 to SUPPORT+ or usual care for 18 weeks. The primary outcome was change in HRQoL (EQ 5D 5L). Secondary outcomes included ECOG PS, ED visits, and hospitalizations.
Results:
A total of 633 patients were enrolled (315 intervention; 318 control), median age 79 (range 31–103), with 47.4% male. HRQoL was better maintained in SUPPORT+: EQ 5D 5L index declined from 0.59 at baseline to 0.52 at week 18 vs. 0.62 to 0.37 in usual care (mean difference −0.18; p<0.001). EQ VAS remained more stable (68.7 to 65.8 vs. 68.9 to 59.5; mean difference −6.54, p<0.001). ECOG PS deterioration was less common (12.4% vs. 18.9%; p=0.016). ED visits were similar. Hospitalization outcomes favoured SUPPORT+, with more reductions in admissions and shorter lengths of stay (both p≤0.001).
Conclusions:
SUPPORT+ maintained HRQoL, preserved PS, and reduced hospitalizations in advanced cancer. Digital symptom monitoring with automated self management and timely healthcare support is a promising strategy to strengthen community based supportive care.
Proportion of patients in the SUPPORT+ arm and control (usual care) arm with changes in HRQoL, self-efficacy, emergency department visit, hospitalization episodes and duration.
J Clin Oncol 44, 2026 (suppl 17; abstr LBA12008)
References
- J Clin Oncol 44, 2026 (suppl 17; abstr LBA12008)
Next in ASCO 2026
All 9 interviewsInterview 9 of 9
Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa MD PhD; ASCO 2026: Adding Doublet Immune Checkpoint Inhibition to Embolization with or without anti-Growth Factor TKI Therapy Extends Progression Free Survival in Patients with Hepatocellular Cancer
CHICAGO, USA—Patients with unresectable liver cancers who were eligible for treatment with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), were randomly offered, treatment with the anti-CTL-4 checkpoint inhibitor tremelimumab together with the anti PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab with or without a third drug: the multiple VEGFR 1, 2 & 3 kinase inhibitor, lenvatinib, in the phase threeEMERALD-3 study. Findings of a significant improvement of progression free survival were reported at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting by first author Ghassan Abou-Alfa MD PhD from the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York and Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY. After his talk in Chicago Dr. Abou-Alfa gave Peter Goodwin the details:
Related Episodes
David R Spigel MD; ASCO 2026: Bispecific PD-1/VEGF Antibody Ivonescimab Extends Life in Patients with Untreated Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer: Phase 3 HARMONi-6 trial
CHICAGO, USA—The bispecific antibody ivonescimab (that targets the PD-1 and VEGF molecules) has extended overall survival in patients with untreated advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer in the latest data from the HARMONi-6 trial reported at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology by Chen Zhiwei from Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China. Peter Goodwin discusses the findings with ASCO expert David R Spigel MD, President & Chief Medical Officer at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Vanita Noronha MD; ASCO 2026: Ultra-Low Dose Immunotherapy Extends Life with Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer at Low Cost for Patients in Low and Middle Income Countries
CHICAGO, USA—Although recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancers respond well to palliative chemotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibition, this approach may be un-affordable in low and middle income countries. But a randomized phase three trial from India reported a pragmatic solution at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Ultra-low doses of pembrolizumab immunotherapy along with “triple oral metronomic chemotherapy” were found to bring good palliation and longer survival according to Vanita Noronha MD, Professor of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India, as she explained to Peter Goodwin.
John Mascarenhas MD; ASCO 2026: New Janus Kinase Inhibitor Improves Myelofibrosis Outcomes When Added to Ruxolitinib Initial Therapy
CHICAGO, USA—Outcomes were improved for patients with myelofibrosis in the phase 3 SENTRY trial who were randomized to have the new Janus kinase inhibitor selinexor added to their ruxolitinib initial therapy.Findings were reported at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.Peter Goodwin got the details from first author John Mascarenhas MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center of Excellence for Blood Cancers and Myeloid Disorders at the Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine, in Mount Sinai, New York, NY.