Project start date: July 2018
Anticipated end date: July 2021
Funding: The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)
Background
Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC), also referred to as ‘Secondary or stage IV’ breast cancer, is a disease which affects multiple organs and requires continuous therapy, resulting in a wide range of physical symptoms and psychological burden. The desire to maintain Quality of Life (QOL) is amongst the main concerns for patients living with MBC and has been identified as an area of care in need of significantly more focus and attention. There is currently an unmet need for tools that can better evaluate QOL in this patient group, as current measures may not account for the unique experiences associated with MBC.
Aims and Objectives
The overall objective of this project is to develop a new MBC-specific questionnaire that can better measure quality of life in metastatic breast cancer patients. The project consists of three main phases;
Phase I: Identifying the QOL issues that are associated with MBC.
Phase II: Developing a provisional questionnaire using the issues identified in Phase I.
Phase III: Pre-testing the provisional questionnaire to ensure its suitability.
This project is being conducted internationally across nine different countries, with the aim of developing a questionnaire that is internationally validated.
If you have any questions regarding this project please contact Christopher Bedding at C.M.Bedding1@leeds.ac.uk
Study Team
Christopher Bedding (PhD Student)
Dr Kate Absolom
Professor Galina Velikova