Interactive Data Visualization Tool Facilitates Shared Decision-Making in Kidney Cancer

Researchers developed an interactive visualization tool for kidney cancer with the potential to facilitate shared decision-making between patients and providers (JCO Clin Cancer Inform. 2021;5:912-920. doi:10.1200/CCI.21.00050). 

Shared decision-making between patients with metastatic kidney cancer and their providers can be difficult due to a lack of clinical decision tools able to provide this service.

Kevin Shee, MD, PhD, Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, and colleagues created and tested a novel interactive visualization tool for clinical use, using the International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC) criteria, a risk prediction tool for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Dr Shee and colleagues constructed an interactive visualization of IMDC criteria that included data on over 4500 patients. Nonmedical lay-users and medical oncology fellow physicians tested the interactive visualization, calculating median survival times based on IMDC criteria.

Participants were surveyed, and gave feedback on user confidence, helping Dr Shee and colleagues revise the tool.

Of the 400 lay-users and 15 physicians, cumulative accuracy across scenarios was 84% and 74%, respectively (P = .03). Results showed that 83% of lay-users and 87% of physicians found the tool to be intuitive. A desire for clinical use of this tool was observed in 83% of lay-users, and 87% of physicians.

Once revisions were complete, 100 lay-users and 15 physicians tested the tool. With the updated version, 90% of physicians showed significant improvement in accuracy, compared to 67% of lay-users (P = .03), and 93% of physicians wanted to use the updated tool in a clinical setting, compared to 72% of lay-users.

“A graphical method of interacting with a validated nomogram provides prognosis results that can be used by nonmedical lay-users and physicians, and has the potential for expanded use across many clinical conditions,” concluded Dr Shee and colleagues.—Marta Rybczynski