Managing fear of breast cancer recurrence

What’s the title of the study?

Optimising an online intervention for people who experience fears about cancer recurrence following primary breast cancer

What’s the study about?

For many, the emotional and physical impacts of breast cancer and its treatment can feel overwhelming. Concern about cancer recurrence is common and has been reported to be one of the biggest unmet needs amongst breast cancer survivors.

Researchers at King's College London are in the process of developing a new online intervention for people living beyond breast cancer.

At this stage, they want to find out how breast cancer survivors experience some of the materials that have been developed for use in the intervention.

Who’s organising it?

Name of project lead: Dr Anna Cartwright

Job title: Clinical Psychologist and PhD Fellow

Organisation: King's College London

Email address: anna.cartwright@kcl.ac.uk

Who can take part?

You can take part if you

• Are aged 18 years or older
• Are based in the UK 
• Have previously been diagnosed with primary breast cancer (stage 0 to 3)
• Have completed active treatment (i.e. surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy) for primary breast cancer at least 4 months ago
• Have no evidence of cancer coming back after treatment
• Experience fears, worries and concerns about the possibility of cancer coming back
• Are not experiencing a severe mental health disorder, for example, psychosis, bipolar disorder, that is not currently being well managed
• Have sufficient vision and hearing to view video, audio, and written information on a tablet, laptop, computer or smartphone
• Are able to read and communicate in English

The researchers are particularly interested in the views of people who:

• Identify as LGBTQ+
• Were diagnosed with breast cancer before 2021
• Are from a Black, Arab or Asian ethnic backgrounds
• Do not have a University degree

Why do you want me to be involved?

Your participation is valuable to the development of the fear of recurrence intervention.

Information learned from the study may help you and/or others in the future, by ensuring that the intervention we develop addresses what matters most to people living beyond breast cancer.

You may find the study interesting, and many people report feeling satisfied and pleased to have contributed to health research.

What will you ask me to do?

There are different stages to this study.

You’ll first be asked to complete a series of questions online, to confirm that the study is suitable for you (5 minutes).

If suitable, you’ll then be asked to complete an online Informed Consent Form, and provide information about yourself (10-15 minutes).

Following these questions, you’ll be provided with some information about managing concerns about cancer recurrence and information about a new online intervention. This information has been developed through consultation with people with lived experience of primary breast cancer and healthcare professionals. This will take approximately 45 minutes. Once you’ve completed this ‘information session’, you’ll be presented with some follow-up questionnaires (5-10 minutes).

After 24 hours, you’ll receive a link via email to a brief follow up questionnaire (approximately 5-10 minutes), and another brief follow up questionnaire 1 week later (5-10 minutes).

Finally, you may be invited to take part in a short interview (approximately 30 minutes), so that the researchers can better understand your experience of the information that you receive, to help make future improvements. This will be held via videocall or telephone, depending on your preference.

At each study time point, you’ll be given the opportunity to enter into a prize draw to win one of 4 Love2Shop Vouchers (2 x £25, 2 x £50)

How do I get involved?

This research study has expired. 

When’s the deadline?

6 November 2024