Common symptoms of cancer and cancer treatment significantly impair the function and quality of life of patients. When pain is present, it significantly compromises patients' mood, level of activity, and ability to relate to others. Similarly, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, and psychological distress add tremendously to the burden of having a life-threatening disease. In order for these symptoms to be appropriately treated, accurate assessment of symptoms is essential.

The Pain Research Group has been working since 1979 to design appropriate tools for the assessment of the symptoms experienced by patients with cancer. In 1989, Charles S. Cleeland, Ph.D. and the Pain Research Group developed and validated the Brief Pain Inventory© (BPI) as a rapid and easily administered tool for the assessment of the severity and impact of cancer pain. Since this time, the BPI has been translated and validated into several languages, and has been widely used in both research and clinical settings. Recently, the PRG has expanded its research into other symptoms, with the development of the Brief Fatigue Inventory© to assess fatigue, and the development of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory© to assess the severity and impact of multiple symptoms (e.g., distress, nausea, and shortness of breath). Future research will focus on using these brief and simple tools with new technologies such as Interactive Voice Response systems to provide assessment and treatment of patients' symptoms while they are at home.