ANTH_CED 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An anthropological study of the early detection of cancer
IRAS ID
270204
Contact name
Ignacia Arteaga
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
HVS/2019/2657, Insurance cover
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 8 months, 7 days
Research summary
The present study seeks to understand the practices, perceptions and experiences of scientists, health professionals and research volunteers who are involved in scientific and clinical research studies regarding to the early detection of cancer in Cambridge, UK. It will comprise 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork, divided into three components according to the research site. The first component, to be carried out within the CRUK Cambridge Early Detection Centre, includes an exploration of how various academic and clinical researchers collaborate to develop technologies. The second component, to be carried out within Cambridge University Hospitals clinical and research facilities (specifically at CuRED: Clinical infrastructure for Research in Early Detection), pays attention to the technologies that are applied in clinical research settings, considering who the research volunteers are, why and how they engage in early detection studies, and how results are communicated to them (if any). In the third component, the study unpacks the potential impact of detection technologies at a personal and social level. It asks how healthy research volunteers make sense in their everyday lives of their participation in clinical research studies. The study will gather information through observation of scientific and clinical practices; conversations with researchers, health professionals and research volunteers; participation in research activities; and participant-observation with a subsample of research volunteers. The study plans to use an anthropological method of analysis, which is broadly defined as an inductive and comparative exercise through which research participants' experiences and worldviews are understood in their own terms. The systematic collection of these experiences will be put into a wider context, extracting meaning, relevance, and societal impact. Observing the real-life impact of early cancer detection studies will be invaluable to better understand any relational, psychological, and even socioeconomic changes in participants' lives.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0012
Date of REC Opinion
19 Feb 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion