Patients' perceived tolerance of side effects in phase I cancer clinical trials: A qualitative study.
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl)
; 26(6)2017 Nov.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27734561
ABSTRACT
This qualitative study aimed to explore cancer patients' perceived tolerance of side effects in phase I drug trials. Patients with solid tumours receiving molecularly targeted agents with/without chemotherapy were eligible for inclusion. In-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with 17 patients with a median [range] age of 63 [41-72] years. Treatment was discontinued in seven patients. Verbatim transcripts of the audio-taped interviews were analysed using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Four conceptual categories emerged from data analysis, labelled "suffering from side effects" comprising a range of symptoms, psychosocial or role disturbances; "striving to cope with side effects" reflecting psychological strategies for managing side effects; "hoping" reflecting expectations about treatment efficacy and relief from side effects; and "appraisal of care." Among patients remaining in the trial, treatment was currently perceived as fairly tolerable. For most respondents, whether still in a trial or not, treatment discontinuation could not be justified by the non-tolerance of treatment side effects. These results question the adequacy of patient-perceived tolerance reports to determine an optimal drug dose for phase II trials. Confronted with patients' hopes and inappropriate beliefs, communication is challenging in phase I trials and could benefit from facilitating psychosocial interventions.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ensaios Clínicos Fase I como Assunto
/
Terapia de Alvo Molecular
/
Neoplasias
/
Antineoplásicos
Tipo de estudo:
Qualitative_research
Aspecto:
Patient_preference
Limite:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl)
Assunto da revista:
ENFERMAGEM
/
NEOPLASIAS
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
França