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ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale

What is the ESMO-MCBS?

22 Jul 2019

The ESMO-MCBS facilitates improved decision-making regarding the value of anti-cancer therapies, promotes accessibility and reduces iniquity of access to high value cancer treatments.

22 Jul 2019

ESMO-MCBS for Solid Tumours

Check out the forms and instructions of ESMO-MCBS for solid tumours and discover the cancer medicines that have been scored and published by ESMO

28 Mar 2023

ESMO-MCBS for Haematological Malignancies

Check out the forms and instructions of ESMO-MCBS for haematological malignancies and discover the cancer medicines that have been scored and published by ESMO

Coming soon

Dissemination and applicability of the ESMO-MCBS

Keep up to date with the latest ESMO publications and Congress presentations of the ESMO-MCBS and make sure you don’t miss anything!

Pivotal Articles

Published in Annals of Oncology in 2022, Methodological and reporting standards for quality of life data eligible for European Society for Medical Oncology-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) credit
Published in Annals of Oncology in 2017, ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale version 1.1
Published in Annals of Oncology in 2015, A standardised, generic, validated approach to stratify the magnitude of clinical benefit that can be anticipated from anti-cancer therapies: the European Society for Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS)

Additional Articles

Published in ESMO Open in 2022, Off-label despite high-level evidence: a clinical practice review of commonly used off-patent cancer medicines
Published in ESMO Open in 2022, "The first ones now, will later be last": understanding the importance of historical context when reading ESMO-MCBS scores
Published in ESMO Open in 2022, Prioritising systemic cancer therapies applying ESMO’s tools and other resources to assist in improving cancer care globally: the Kazakh experience
Published in ESMO Open in 2021, Biases in study design, implementation, and data analysis that distort the appraisal of clinical benefit and ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) scoring
Published in ESMO Open in 2020, EHA evaluation of the ESMO—Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale version 1.1 (ESMO-MCBS v1.1) for haematological malignancies
Published in ESMO Open in 2020, Application of the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (V.1.1) to the field of early breast cancer therapies
Published in ESMO Open in 2020, Lessons learnt from scoring adjuvant colon cancer trials and meta-analyses using the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale V.1.1
Published in ESMO Open in 2017, Detailed statistical assessment of the characteristics of the ESMO Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) threshold rules
Published in ESMO Open in 2016, ESMO - Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale V.1.0 questions and answers

ESMO-MCBS Factsheet and Booklet

Presentations at ESMO Congresses

ESMO Virtual Congress 2022, the scale was presented or referenced in several sessions

Special Session, 5-year impact of new registered indications on the ESMO-MCBS. Listen to key insights of the sessions from the speakers here.
Proffered Paper session: Policy and preventive strategies, ‘1313O - Assessment of investigational new drugs (INDs) approved in USA and Europe after early phase trials using the ESMO-magnitude of clinical benefit scale (ESMO-MCBS)’
The enigma of public policy in oncology: ESMO at the forefront

ESMO Virtual Congress 2021, the scale was presented or referenced in several sessions

Special Session, ESMO-MCBS: Can we keep it free from bias? Listen to key insights of the sessions from the speakers here.
Does my patient really benefit from my treatment? Physician, patient and value perspectives

ESMO Virtual Congress 2020, the scale was presented or referenced in several sessions

E-Poster Display Session, Launching local treatment guidelines for stage IV cancer during COVID-19 pandemic using ESMO-MCBS
Special Session, Challenges in the development and real-world use of the ESMO-MCBS.
Educational Session, Connecting the dots: The ESMO vision on the value of cancer medicines
Proffered Paper - Public Policy, 1583O - Clinical benefit of cancer drugs approved in Switzerland during the last decade

ESMO Congress 2019, the scale was presented or referenced in several sessions

Special Session, ESMO-MCBS: What have we learnt and how can we expand?
Poster Discussion Session - Public policy, 1631PD_PR - Clinical benefit and prices of cancer drugs in the US and Europe
Educational Session, Surviving a cancer diagnosis with a good QoL
Proffered paper session - Public policy, 1626O - ESMO-MCBS and health technology assessment (HTA): Does value for physicians correspond to value for payers?
Proffered paper session - Public policy, 1627O - Change in magnitude of clinical benefit, overall survival (OS) and quality of life (QoL) between time of approval and post-marketing among cancer drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 2006-2015
Proffered paper session - Public policy, 1628O - Consistency of ESMO-MCBS scores with drug access recommendations in Catalonia

ESMO Congress 2018, the scale was presented or referenced in several sessions

Special Session, ESMO-MCBS in perspective
Poster Discussion Session - Public health policy, 1562PD - Magnitude of Clinical Benefit of Cancer Drugs Approved Based on Single-Arm Trials (SAT) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Poster Discussion Session - Public health policy, 1563PD - Magnitude of Clinical Benefit in Trials Supporting US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Accelerated Approval (AA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) Conditional Marketing Authorisation (CMA) and Subsequent Trials Supporting Conversion to Full Approval
Poster Discussion Session - Public health policy, 1564PD - Magnitude of Clinical Benefit of Trials Supporting US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approval of Breakthrough and Non-breakthrough Drugs
Poster Discussion Session - Public health policy, 1565PD - Time to access to novel anticancer therapies in Slovenia in view of the ESMO-MCBS scores
Proffered paper session - Public health policy, 1555O_PR - Magnitude of clinical benefit of cancer drugs and time to health technology assessment (HTA) decisions in Europe

ESMO Congress 2017, the scale was presented or referenced in several sessions

1441PD - Magnitude of clinical benefit of randomized controlled trials supporting US Food and Drug Administration approval of drugs for solid tumours
Special Session, Cost value and assessment tools of therapies in modern oncology
Proffered Paper Session: 1435O_PR - Comparison of the European Society for Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) in Clinical Trials Supporting US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approval of Orphan vs. Non-orphan Drugs.
Proffered Paper Session: 1436O_PR - How to assess a cancer therapy? Feedback from the French HTA body on the ESMO-MCBS
Proffered Paper Session: 1437O_PR - Clinical Benefit of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) Supporting US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Conversion from Accelerated to Full Approval

ESMO Asia Congress 2016

Special Session: Guidelines including grading of novel drugs with ESMO-MCBS

ESMO Congress 2016, the scale was presented or referenced in several sessions

Abstract 1511P: TKIs in first-line for advanced NSCLC with activating EGFR-mutations: The European Society for Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) applied to pivotal phase III randomized controlled trials
Abstract: 1365PD Do contemporary randomized controlled trials meet ESMO thresholds for clinically meaningful benefit?
Special Session, Clinical benefit of Cancer Drugs
Special Symposium, ESMO’s initiatives to reduce disparities in cancer care: Promoting access to valuable drugs focusing in the magnitude of clinical benefit
Proffered Paper Session: Abstract 1364O: The ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (MCBS) in rare tumor entities: A real life experience at the Medical University Vienna

ESMO Asia Congress 2015

Special Session, Resource constraints as a barrier to lung cancer management

European Cancer Congress 2015, the scale was presented or referenced in several sessions

ESMO Society Session (28 September), where Elisabeth de Vries presented the scale and Alexandru Eniu explained how the scale is applied using the data from the ESMO Anti-Neoplastic Medicines Surveys.
ESO Society Session: ‘Is innovation Affordable?’, 26 September
Oncopolicy Forum: Inequalities in Treatment Outcomes, 27 September
Special Session: Evaluating Clinical Benefit of Cancer Drugs Across Tumours, 28 September

ASCO 2015: ESMO-MCBS was launched at the ESMO/ASCO Joint Session during ASCO 2015

What they say about the ESMO-MCBS

In this podcast, Professor Martine Piccart (Scientific Director of the Institut Jules Bordet, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium) shares valuable insights on the work that has been done in the field of access to essential cancer medicines by the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale Working Group

For further information about the ESMO-MCBS, please send an email to mcbs@esmo.org

ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale

What is the ESMO-MCBS?

ESMO-MCBS online tutorial

Accessibility and Availability of Medicines

ESMO-MCBS for Solid Tumours

ESMO-MCBS for Haematological Malignancies

ESMO-MCBS in action

ESMO-MCBS Working Group

Dissemination and applicability of the ESMO-MCBS

Keep up to date with the latest ESMO publications and Congress presentations of the ESMO-MCBS and make sure you don’t miss anything!

ASCO 2015: ESMO-MCBS was launched at the ESMO/ASCO Joint Session during ASCO 2015