Research summary

Can an eHealth Platform Improve Quality of Life for Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes?

Anthony Calabro, MA

Key Highlights

  • The MyPal digital platform significantly reduced pain in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.
  • Family involvement increased over time in the intervention group.
  • No significant differences were observed between groups in overall survival or most quality-of-life (QoL) metrics.
  • Improvements in pain and emotional well-being were supported by multiple validated QoL measures.

A multicenter, randomized controlled trial evaluated whether an eHealth intervention could enhance quality of life (QoL) among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The trial’s results showed that use of the MyPal digital health platform was associated with a significant reduction in pain and improvements in several symptom-related domains compared with standard of care.

Digital health technologies are increasingly recognized as tools to support patient-reported outcomes and communication between patients and clinicians. However, evidence of their clinical benefit in hematologic malignancies remains limited. This study sought to determine whether a structured eHealth platform could improve QoL and symptom management in patients living with chronic hematologic cancers that require ongoing surveillance and supportive care.

In the current study, patients with CLL or MDS who were receiving or had completed therapy were randomly assigned (1:1) to either standard of care or access to the MyPal digital health platform. The platform enabled patients to report QoL status and symptoms using standardized instruments or spontaneous input through a smartphone application. The primary end point was QoL at 12 months, assessed via the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EuroQol EQ-5D-3L questionnaires. Secondary outcomes included physical and emotional functioning (Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale [IPOS]), satisfaction with care (EORTC PATSAT-C33), and overall survival (OS). Additional QoL measures, including the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), and Emotion Thermometers (ET), were applied exclusively in the intervention group.

Among 171 patients analyzed (97 in the control arm and 74 in the intervention arm), those using the MyPal platform experienced a statistically significant reduction in pain (β2 = –0.48 [–0.77 to –0.19]; P < .001), while the control group demonstrated an increase in pain scores (β1 = 0.3 [0.09 to 0.5]; P = .01). Communication and pain domains assessed by IPOS decreased equally in both groups, and most other QoL indices (EORTC QLQ-C30, EuroQol EQ-5D-3L, IPOS, PATSAT-C33) remained stable over time. Overall survival was comparable between the two groups.

Notably, family involvement increased significantly only among participants in the intervention group. Within the MyPal arm, all ESAS, BPI, and ET scales demonstrated improvement, suggesting that digital symptom reporting may positively influence patient well-being.

“The MyPal intervention improved several QoL aspects and led to a statistically significant decrease in pain compared with the control group,” the study authors concluded.

Reference:
Chatzikonstantinou T, Vasilopoulou M, Kyrou D, et al. Assessing an ehealth intervention on quality of life in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes: the MyPal randomized controlled trial. JCO Oncol Pract. Published online August 25, 2025.:10.1200/OP-25-00087