In the past, patients on chemotherapy and other cancer fighting treatments had to make an appointment to see their doctor to discuss complications and side effects from their treatment. This led to patients toughing it out through symptoms until their next appointment, and unfortunately leading a lower quality of life.

Given the results of a new study, it appears that these patients also sacrificed months of survival on average.

A new study gave cancer patients the opportunity to report side effects over the computer instead of waiting for an appointment. Nursing staff was often very responsive (80% of the time they responded immediately) with medications for the symptoms.

Those patients who participated in the study and took advantage of calling their providers for help with symptoms saw their quality of life improve. In addition, because patients were more comfortable they were able to stay on chemotherapy longer, and live longer.

You can read an article on this study here:

[Quickly reporting cancer complications may boost survival](https://www.statnews.com/2017/06/04/patients-cancer-complications-survival/)