Patient Reported Outcome Measure In Skin Cancer Reconstruction Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Patient Reported Outcome Measure In Skin Cancer Reconstruction (PROMISCR) study. Anglicisation and validation of the FACE-Q dermatological surgery outcome measure for patients who have undergone different methods of post-skin cancer reconstruction of the face.
IRAS ID
212618
Contact name
Iain Whitaker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Swansea University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Skin cancer is the most common malignancy worldwide, with 1 in 5 Americans developing skin cancer in their lifetime. It is predicted that the number of skin cancer diagnoses is going to continue to increase year-on-year, with a doubling in number in the next 30 years, along with a fall in the average age of first diagnosis.
There are a number of treatment options, however surgical excision with a margin of healthy tissue surrounding the lesion is typically favoured in Europe and the USA. The challenge is often not the complete excision of the malignant lesion but the following reconstruction of the defect, especially on the head and neck where cosmesis is clearly important. Reconstructive options include direct closure, skin grafts, local tissue flaps and rarely free flaps. Many factors influence the most appropriate reconstructive option, but in an era where shared-decision making between clinicians’ and patients’ is encouraged it is important that the patient is involved in the discussion regarding the most appropriate reconstructive option. To date very little work has focused on the patient perspective of the difference between these reconstructive options. The aim of this study is therefore to use patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to explore patients’ views of the different types of reconstruction available and to investigate if currently available questionnaires are sensitive enough to be used in research and routine clinical practice.
All eligible patients seen at the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastics and who are diagnosed with a skin cancer on their head or neck will be invited to take part in the study. Completion of the questionnaire will not affect their clinical management and will not incur any further visits to hospital over and above their routine clinical follow-up. Recruitment will continue for approximately eighteen months.REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0445
Date of REC Opinion
3 Nov 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion