Experiences of immunotherapy cancer treatment: A Qualitative Study

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  'Harnessing the little white cells': Tracing practices of immunity in cancer

• IRAS ID

  280228

• Contact name

  Julia Swallow

• Contact email

  julia.swallow@ed.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Edinburgh

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  N/A, N/A

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 0 months, 0 days

• Research summary

  Over the last five years, immunotherapy treatments have emerged in clinical practice and are also
  currently being tested as part of experimental clinical trials to treat patients with some forms of
  cancer. These treatments utilise the patient's own body to treat cancer and the scientific and clinical hope attached to these novel therapies is that they have the potential to extend survival time for patients. There are however, clinical concerns regarding long-term treatment side-effects and toxicities, predicting response and prognosis, and management of patients’ hopes and expectations.

  This research is a qualitative ethnographic study exploring how novel immunotherapy treatments are implemented in order to understand how these treatments are shifting how cancer is approached, managed and experienced. I will interview patients, healthcare practitioners and scientists, and observe clinical consultations and laboratory work. I want to see how cancer takes shape and with what consequences as these novel therapies are implemented, considering how immunotherapy treatments impact how cancer is managed in clinical practice as part of patient care as well as exploring what these developments mean for patients who are living with cancer. This data and analysis will be useful for an improved understanding of the impact of biomedical innovation on patients' experiences as well as the practice of healthcare. It is anticipated that this work will help change health policy for the better, and improve care for patients living with advanced cancer.

• REC name

  North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2

• REC reference

  20/NS/0062

• Date of REC Opinion

  19 Jun 2020

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion