Cancer Loyalty Card Study-2 (CLOCS-2)

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Cancer Loyalty Card Study-2 (CLOCS-2)

  • IRAS ID

    324742

  • Contact name

    James Flanagan

  • Contact email

    j.flanagan@imperial.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Imperial College London

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 5 months, 31 days

  • Research summary

    An early cancer diagnosis is essential for receiving treatment as early as possible to have the best chance for successful treatment. Early diagnosis can be challenging for various forms of cancers such as colorectal, oesophageal, stomach, liver, bladder, uterine, vulval, ovarian, endometrial and pancreatic because their symptoms sometimes resemble common illnesses, and could resolve with the use of over the counter medications and other remedies until they become persistent or debilitating.

    Patients diagnosed with the aforementioned cancers often report experiencing vague symptoms (such as body aches, indigestion, feeling full etc.) and used over-the-counter medication to manage their symptoms before seeing a doctor. We believe information about how often and what products participants purchase (e.g. pain killers, digestive products and natural remedies) to care for these symptoms could help identify these cancers a few crucial weeks or month earlier and promote people to seek help sooner from their doctors.

    The Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS-2) is focused on improving early diagnosis of these cancer types. We are investigating whether or not your everyday loyalty card use in high street retailers can help identify early signs of cancers. CLOCS-2 aims to compare purchasing patterns of participants with (cases) and without (controls) cancer diagnoses to develop a way to potentially help diagnose cancer earlier. Early cancer diagnosis is vital for receiving treatment as early as possible to have the best chance for successful treatment. Early diagnosis can be challenging for various forms of cancers such as colon, oesophageal, stomach, liver, bladder, uterine, vulval, ovarian, endometrial and pancreatic because their symptoms sometimes resemble common illnesses, and could resolve with the use of over the counter medications and other remedies until they become persistent or debilitating.

  • REC name

    East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    23/EM/0224

  • Date of REC Opinion

    29 Nov 2023

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion