Personalisation in Breast Cancer Medicine
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Personalisation in Breast Cancer Medicine and Healthcare: An Ethnography of Research and Participation
IRAS ID
248517
Contact name
Helen Ward
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Joint Research Compliance Office, Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 29 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
‘Personalised’ approaches are transforming the treatment of breast cancer and we propose to explore experiences of developments. We will follow up a previous study of the breast cancer pathway (conducted 2013-14 at Imperial College London Healthcare NHS Trust) to learn about changes in the last 5 years. We will also investigate staff and patient perspectives on two translational research studies. Finally, we want to gain an understanding of broader perspectives on personalisation through patient participation and involvement at Science Café meetings and through a Poetry Residency with Di Sherlock at Maggie’s West London, an NGO associated with the Trust. We will describe developments in personalised medicine and associated ideas about the person and their health, including the role of participation and what people think about the collection, use and sharing of data.Summary of Research
We studied personalised medicine, which has been transforming the treatment of breast cancer, from 2018-2022. We were guided by a four-person patient advisory group, Kelly Gleason (Imperial CRUK Lead Nurse), Professor Charles Coombes (Imperial College London), and Sinéad Cope (Maggie's West London). This research was supported by the Wellcome Trust:-(1) Sophie Day and Kelly Gleason hosted six science cafés to explore personalised medicine and care with members of the public, clinical and research staff at Maggie’s West London.
(2) Di Sherlock collaborated with us during a one-year poetry residency in the hospital and Maggie’s West London. She wrote a poetry collection from conversations with staff and patients, Written Portraits (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu2790089.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3DXv3JSvJ-2B3M71ppf7N9agbRg1h6xp50MRuDSkdCuSwUCCQlM0Ds2sXJ8rcXHFQs3DmUJr_E1aO2-2BZlVOSJJV-2FajQqskegTd6IRomHYTi-2Fbt8SH3YI7IA2GhdSzuJEcUCUIHgxvT6YGpBxHJZ9SR0SkSVd7c780IhwzuqBo-2BDhJDcLxBdV8r-2BhZMMn1GpoC-2FTy-2BkSECtuqRG9Ir-2B2PwpZsUrMYZ6S6KCQj3W0FznXORtKFNNhb8eZRyBQIPn-2B3Pvtm0P8dL1xjF9b3ow6ldgH9MHKU0Iw-3D-3D&data=05%7C01%7Capprovals%40hra.nhs.uk%7Ccf54fb765da648656aa508db0a9a147b%7C8e1f0acad87d4f20939e36243d574267%7C0%7C0%7C638115429099957501%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=K%2B2kxMQghGvrUONC%2FvoBYJDPwF0gO3382Mfv89qVANg%3D&reserved=0
(3) Sophie Day and William Viney observed the impact of new research activities, therapies, and hospital management at Charing Cross Hospital and Imperial College London. They interviewed 55 patients and staff. Participants expected better outcomes with new treatments, which target different kinds of breast cancer. However, services are complicated, and the coordination of care became even more challenging when measures to address COVID were introduced in 2020. We found that services are adapting better to changes in care and treatment than they were five years previously, despite these challenges. Research activities were affected as well as care, including the study we were following that was trying to detect earlier signs of relapse through analysing DNA traces in blood. Research participants wanted to learn about the benefit of their contributions, especially for the care of future patients.
You can learn more about this study in our lay report (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu2790089.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3DXv3JSvJ-2B3M71ppf7N9agbRg1h6xp50MRuDSkdCuSwUDEKgRFAiGMGxLU8I3hP9c3SZs81ehgthRVpx53cwIBWM4RyQafjEG-2BWqC8WbxUE-2BZfMPKQJZSS7cRVXtrJyoaRLgfaVnzn0nxmr2J0ca0T1Q-3D-3DTMQi_E1aO2-2BZlVOSJJV-2FajQqskegTd6IRomHYTi-2Fbt8SH3YI7IA2GhdSzuJEcUCUIHgxvsCB2v-2F-2FISl-2F5yCjp14Ux16elXT2ThZUixhIGHBY7Prmq5z6AjFTnD6C2q9XPW0eNDpD9CzSoITAlrZ8dxsKX7-2FTvHW9m2vQa2C91oEyirie9gnHior1yzn3vXgcpCJjvgRR5-2F2rKiBXuN3Fr7KvwOg-3D-3D&data=05%7C01%7Capprovals%40hra.nhs.uk%7Ccf54fb765da648656aa508db0a9a147b%7C8e1f0acad87d4f20939e36243d574267%7C0%7C0%7C638115429099957501%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2BdQ6BccsmGaNXURfx1LnKkKDRBZlEUrQF%2BWcr14Em0A%3D&reserved=0 which includes links to publications.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0550
Date of REC Opinion
24 Aug 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion