Supportive care needs of men with advanced prostate cancer enrolled in a clinical trial

Supportive care needs of men with advanced prostate cancer enrolled in a clinical trial

Prostate cancer is a major public health concern, with long-term survivors experiencing ongoing physical and psychological symptoms associated with the disease and treatment. Improving the survivorship experience is fundamental to enhancing the quality of care received by patients. A key gap in survivorship research is the area of supporting men with prostate cancer who enrol and participate in a clinical trial. Clinical trials are essential for the advancement of cancer treatments however, patient participation is insufficient. There is a lack of qualitative evidence on the patient experience across the continuum of a clinical trial. Therefore, the overall aim of this doctoral research program was to identify the needs of men with advanced prostate cancer enrolled in a clinical trial and ways to best support them. To achieve this, this program conducted; (1) a qualitative systematic review to synthesise literature reporting experiences of participants when deciding to enrol in a cancer clinical trial and; (2) a nested qualitative longitudinal study to describe the lived experiences of men with advanced prostate cancer participating in the TheraP trial. Findings from these studies established that the decision-making experience is consumed by feelings of trepidation, leaving treatment to chance, sensing no other alternative and needing to justify the decision to enrol. The findings highlight the need for tailored trial information, social validation, improved support and endorsement from health professionals. Furthermore, the experience of participation involves consideration of outcomes of the trial and coping with change. There is a need for targeted psychological and supportive care that includes consideration of the unique aspects of the experience of having both advanced disease and being in a trial. This doctoral research program synthesised participant experience across the trial continuum, providing considerable recommendations to address the unmet supportive care needs of men with advanced prostate cancer enrolled in a clinical trial.

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