Patient experience of prevention and early detection approaches in women's cancer

An area that is key in strategies to detect disease early is risk stratification and we have worked in a number of areas of risk stratification including the collaborative multidisciplinary CRUK research programme (PROMISE).

With the advent of targeted therapies, there is a need to establish in the oncology setting whether patients carry a germline mutation for specific cancer predisposition genes at the time of their cancer diagnosis (mainstream genetic testing - MGT). Tumour testing (MTGT) for some cancers is also now available to detect the presence of somatic mutations. We are working in a number of areas of mainstreaming care, and to date have explored the challenges of developing a mainstreamed pathway in ovarian cancer. Currently we are doing a comparative ethnographic study to examine the sociocultural and ethical implications of developing and delivering personalised medicine through the use of and knowledge generated by genetic testing technologies in ovarian and colorectal advanced cancer clinics. Also planned is a study of the patient experience of precision medicine in biliary tract cancer.