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Australians living with cancer are increasingly being asked a simple but powerful question: How are you? A study led by Flinders University and Flinders Medical Center describes how clinicians routinely listening to cancer patients about their symptoms, well-being and quality of life can transform cancer care.

Supporting cancer patients by regularly asking "how are you?" can help them get support sooner, avoid unnecessary hospital visits and improve their overall health outcomes. This feedback can be tracked through patient-reported outcomes, known as PROs, which involve patients directly reporting symptoms such as pain, fatigue, anxiety or treatment side effects, often through digital questionnaires completed at home or during treatment.

Lead author Dr. Marianne Clausen says cancer patients are often the first to notice changes in their health, but it can be difficult for them to know if changes are a usual part of treatment or something they should discuss with their cancer care team.

"Patients live with the impact of cancer and its treatment every day—so, by routinely asking a patient how they are feeling, we can identify problems earlier and respond before they become more serious," says Clausen from Flinders' College of Medicine and Public Health and Flinders Medical Center.

The paper, published in the Internal Medicine Journal , highlights growing evidence that collecting and acting on patient-reported outcomes can improve quality of life, increase satisfaction with care and reduce emergency department presentations.

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