Targeted therapies for cancer: understanding unmet needs
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Targeted therapies for cancer: understanding patient experiences and assessing unmet needs
IRAS ID
280004
Contact name
Linda Sharp
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
The way we treat cancer is changing. Improved understanding of how cancer develops means many new treatments now ‘target’ cancer cells in the body. These new treatments, collectively known as targeted therapies, work in different ways to chemotherapy – they interfere with the way cancer cells grow and divide. Because they target specific cells and processes, they are not suitable for all patients. This means patients usually need to have some initial tests to find out whether a targeted therapy is likely to work for them.
It is important to understand cancer patients’ experiences and needs for support and care, so that we can best support them through their treatment journey. Unfortunately, as targeted therapy is so new, little is known about how people experience treatment, and what their individual needs are during, or after, treatment. We do know that many patients receiving chemotherapy need support in various areas (e.g. emotional, practical, spiritual) and these needs are often not met. Given the differences between chemotherapy and targeted therapy, we cannot simply assume peoples’ needs will be the same. For example, while side-effects of chemotherapy can be very unpleasant they usually subside following treatment (which typically lasts 2-3 months); in contrast, patients can sometimes take targeted therapies for years so side-effects can be long-lasting and have a major impact on their lives and quality-of-life.
We plan to assess, for the first time, the experiences and unmet needs of people who use targeted therapy. We will include people with breast (female), lung, colorectal, malignant melanoma (skin) or ovarian cancer who are receiving, or have received, targeted therapy as part of their treatment.
We plan on conducting the study over four phases: interviews with patients and staff; using the interview findings, adapt an existing care needs assessment questionnaire; survey the new questionnaire with a large group of patients; set up an impact group to ensure the research is used to improve the care of patients.REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NE/0028
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jan 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion