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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Rakesh Heer
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2026 The Author(s)Background: Inconsistent, varied, and selective outcome reporting is problematic in localized renal cell cancer (RCC) research. Core outcome sets (COSs) offer a solution by defining a standardized minimum set of outcomes that should be measured and reported in all trials in a specific area of health or health care. Objective: We aimed to develop a COS for localized RCC (L-RCC). Design, setting and participants: COS development was conducted over three phases. Phase 1 identified potentially relevant outcomes via a systematic review and patient interviews. In Phase 2, Phase 1 outcomes were entered into a 2-round online Delphi study, whereby patients, health care professionals (HCPs), and researchers scored each outcome's importance. In Phase 3, a series of meetings were conducted to reach a consensus on defining outcomes and selecting appropriate measurements. Results and limitations: Phase 1 identified 200 outcomes. The outcome list was deduplicated and refined before the Delphi study. Round one of the Delphi was completed by 168 participants, of whom 140 completed Round 2. The consensus meeting series was attended by 20 participants (HCPs, researchers, and patients). The L-RCC-COS consists of 21 agreed-upon outcomes, of which 10 apply to all treatments and 11 are intervention-specific. Consensus meeting participants were exclusively based in Europe; future validation work should determine if the L-RCC-COS outcomes are conceptually transferable to other languages and cultures. Conclusions: There is a broad agreement from HCPs, researchers, and patients on which outcomes are important and how they should be defined in L-RCC. We developed the L-RCC-COS suitable for effectiveness trials, observational studies, and routine practice. Use of the L-RCC-COS to standardize outcome reporting in clinical trials and real-world evidence data collection will enable more precise and powerful evidence syntheses and reduce research waste.
Author(s): Lawlor A, Van Hemelrijck M, Moss C, Tripathee S, Wintner LM, Marconi L, Bex A, Giles RH, Woodward R, Dabestani S, van den Brink L, Beyer K, Smith E, Ribal MJ, Campi R, Warren H, Tran M, Walkden M, Laird A, Stewart GD, Klatte T, Capitanio U, Heer R, Beisland C, Bonn SE, Albiges L, Zondervan P, MacLennan S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: European Urology Focus
Year: 2026
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 01/07/2026
Acceptance date: 15/06/2026
Date deposited: 20/07/2026
ISSN (electronic): 2405-4569
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euf.2026.06.017
DOI: 10.1016/j.euf.2026.06.017
Data Access Statement: Steven MacLennan had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.
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