An observational study in Solid Tumors, sponsored by Zhejiang University. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-10.
Sponsored by Zhejiang University · Observational
Cell therapies - including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, T-cell receptor-engineered T-cell (TCR-T) therapy, and natural killer (NK) cell therapy - are emerging treatments for advanced solid tumors. However, their benefit-risk profiles remain uncertain: objective response rates in solid tumors are generally low, treatment-related toxicities such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) can be severe, and the manufacturing process is lengthy and costly. Little is known about how physicians and patients weigh these benefits, risks, and burdens when considering cell therapy for advanced solid tumors.
This cross-sectional, survey-based observational study will use a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to quantify and compare treatment preferences among approximately 420 oncology physicians and 600 patients with advanced solid tumors in China. Each participant will complete a one-time online questionnaire containing a series of hypothetical treatment choices. The study will estimate the relative importance of key treatment attributes (efficacy, safety, treatment burden, and cost), the maximum acceptable risk that participants are willing to tolerate in exchange for improved efficacy, and differences in preferences between physicians and patients. The findings will inform shared decision-making, cell therapy development, regulatory benefit-risk assessment, and health policy.
This is a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based observational study using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to elicit treatment preferences from oncology physicians and patients with advanced solid tumors. The study is designed and will be reported in accordance with the ISPOR good research practice guidelines for conjoint analysis. DCE attributes and levels will be developed through a structured process combining a literature review, expert consultation, and cognitive pretesting, and will span the efficacy, safety, treatment burden, and cost domains. A D-optimal fractional factorial design will be used to generate the choice tasks; each participant will be randomly assigned to a block of choice tasks, each presenting pairs of unlabeled hypothetical cell therapy profiles. Preference weights (part-worth utilities) will be estimated using random-parameters logit (mixed logit) models. Secondary analyses will examine the relative importance of attributes, maximum acceptable risk (MAR), marginal willingness to pay (mWTP) where applicable, differences in preferences between physicians and patients, and preference heterogeneity using latent class analysis and interaction-term models. Prespecified sensitivity analyses will be conducted to assess the robustness of the findings.
112 studies on the registry are indexed under Patient Preference; 28 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 1,020 is above the median of 200 across 55 observational studies indexed under Patient Preference.
Browse Patient Preference studies →Zhejiang University is the lead sponsor of 356 studies on the registry; 166 are open to participants now.
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Approximately 420 licensed oncology physicians and 600 adult patients with advanced solid tumors will be enrolled in China.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Physicians must meet ALL of the following criteria:
Participate voluntarily and provide electronic .
Patients must meet ALL of the following criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Physicians meeting ANY of the following criteria will be excluded:
Individuals unable, for any reason, to understand the questionnaire content or make independent judgments.
Patients meeting ANY of the following criteria will be excluded:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are proteins that act as brakes on the immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab or nivolumab, block them so the immune system can attack a cancer.
PD-L1 can also be measured in a tumour sample. Some scores count stained tumour cells only (TPS); others also count certain immune cells (CPS). The study names the score and the minimum it uses.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Histologically or cytologically confirmed
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
PD-1, PD-L1 and checkpoint inhibitors
PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are proteins that act as brakes on the immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab or nivolumab, block them so the immune system can attack a cancer.
PD-L1 can also be measured in a tumour sample. Some scores count stained tumour cells only (TPS); others also count certain immune cells (CPS). The study names the score and the minimum it uses.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ECOG performance status
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Life expectancy
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Licensed oncology physicians who have participated in systemic treatment decision-making for patients with advanced solid tumors within the past 12 months (approximately 420 participants).
Other: Not applicable- observational study
Adults with histologically or cytologically confirmed advanced solid tumors (unresectable stage III or stage IV) who have received at least one prior line of systemic anticancer therapy (approximately 600 participants).
Other: Not applicable- observational study
This is an observational study.
Part-worth utility coefficients (preference weights) for cell therapy benefit-risk attributes
Preference weights (part-worth utility coefficients) for all attribute levels will be estimated using a random-parameters logit (mixed logit) model, fitted separately in the physician and patient cohorts. Each coefficient represents the marginal change in utility associated with moving from the reference level to a given attribute level. The unit of measure is the preference weight, reported with 95% confidence intervals; within an attribute, a higher weight indicates a more preferred level.
Time frame: Day 1
Difference in preference weights for cell therapy benefit-risk attributes between patients and physicians
Between-group differences in preference weights will be evaluated using the Swait-Louviere scale parameter test, a chi-square test of whether the two groups' choice data can be pooled into a single model, accounting for differences in scale (error variance) between groups. The unit of measure is the chi-square test statistic.
Time frame: Day 1
Maximum acceptable risk (MAR) of treatment-related adverse events in exchange for improved efficacy
Maximum acceptable risk (MAR) is the maximum acceptable percentage-point increase in a treatment-related risk that participants are willing to tolerate in exchange for a defined improvement in efficacy. MAR will be calculated from the estimated preference weights as the negative of the ratio between the marginal utility of the efficacy improvement and the marginal disutility of the risk increase from the lowest level of that risk included in the DCE. The unit of measure is percentage points of treatment-related risk.
Time frame: Day 1
Marginal willingness to pay (mWTP) for improvements in cell therapy attributes
Marginal willingness to pay (mWTP) will be calculated as the negative ratio of the preference weight of a non-cost attribute level to the coefficient of the cost attribute. The unit of measure is Chinese yuan (CNY), representing the additional out-of-pocket expense participants are willing to pay for a given attribute level relative to its reference level.
Time frame: Day 1
Plan to share: No — All results will be reported in aggregate form (e.g., means with 95% confidence intervals); no individual-level physician or patient data will be disclosed.
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