Patient experiences of the diagnosis of CLL not requiring treatment

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  A qualitative study to determine patient experience of the diagnosis of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia not requiring treatment.

• IRAS ID

  341425

• Contact name

  Kate Reed

• Contact email

  k.reed@sheffield.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Sheffield

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) is a cancer of the white blood cells and is the most common type of leukaemia in the UK. CLL is usually slow growing meaning that patients may not need treatment for months or years after learning that they have cancer. The clinical decision to start treatment occurs when the symptoms of CLL, such as tiredness, fevers, and losing weight begin to impact a patient’s quality of life. The symptoms of CLL also include an increased white blood cell count, and decreased haemoglobin and platelet counts as well as enlarged lymph nodes. Patients with no, or mild, symptoms will have a blood test and see a Haematology doctor or their GP around every 6 months. Although treatment is often not needed straight away after diagnosis, knowing that you have a slow growing cancer that nothing is being done about can have an emotional impact on patients.
  This study will work with untreated CLL patients in Sheffield during their first year after diagnosis. Each participant will be asked to take part in two interviews, the first soon after diagnosis, and the second 6 months later. Participants will be asked to keep a diary between the interviews. No further participation is required following the second interview. Participants will be asked to document their feelings whenever their CLL diagnosis has an impact on their lives, therefore there is no set frequency of diary entries. Participants in this study will also be asked to talk about ways in which doctors and nurses may have made their first months living with cancer easier, or more difficult, for them. This project hopes to improve care for newly diagnosed CLL patients before they need treatment. This study is part of the researchers PhD qualification and is funded by an ESRC scholarship.

• REC name

  North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  24/NE/0073

• Date of REC Opinion

  15 Apr 2024

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion