SUrvivors Rehabilitation Evaluation After CANcer

Recruitment and follow-up complete. Sheffield was the major recruitment centre.

NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research (preceded by a NIHR Programme development grant) and Nuffield Health.

SURECAN was a five-year research project funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in the UK. NHS ‘aftercare’ following treatment varies widely across the country and across cancer types.

New, effective approaches to support people after cancer treatment are needed. SURECAN was designed to target people with ongoing poor quality of life and ongoing psychological distress, specifically.

The SURECAN programme consists of six inter-digitating work streams designed to develop, trial and evaluate a new intervention (known as ‘ACT+’). The work packages were as follows:

• A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies of cultural influences on psychological interventions in survivors

• The development of Acceptance and Commitment (plus) therapy (ACT+) pre-pilot

• A pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT)

• A main RCT of ACT+ versus usual aftercare to assess clinical effectiveness

• Qualitative studies around fidelity and patient impact

• Evaluation of predictors, moderators and mediators of treatment effects

1. To conduct a qualitative meta-synthesis of psychological interventions for cancer survivors to inform the design of a “culturally sensitive” intervention that will better appeal to ethnically diverse populations.

2.  To iteratively develop the intervention, integrating support for physical activity and meaningful occupation (including return to paid employment), where this is compatible with individuals’ personal values and goals.

3.  To pilot a randomised controlled trial comparing this intervention against usual aftercare, to test recruitment and retention.

4.  To conduct a fully powered randomised controlled trial of the effect of the intervention on quality of life compared to usual care in 344 participants, with a full economic evaluation.

5. To test potential predictors, moderators and mediators of the intervention.

NIHR Programme grant with interdigitating work packages.

Primary analysis currently underway.

Professor Steph Taylor: s.j.c.taylor@qmul.ac.uk

Professor Liam Bourke:
l.bourke@shu.ac.uk

Professor Derek Rosario:
derek.rosario@nhs.net

• A meta-ethnography of cultural influences on cancer-related psychological interventions (lightening presentation). Kamaldeep Bhui, Trudie Chalder, Sheila Donovan, Dipesh Gopal, Imran Khan, Ania Korszun, Elisavet Moschopoulou, Karen Pilkington, Damien Ridge, Stephanie Taylor. PROSPERO 2018 CRD42018107695.
  Available on YouTube.
  

• Moschopoulou, E., Deane, J., Duncan, M., Ismail, S. A., Moriarty, S., Sarker, S. J., ... & Korszun, A. (2021). Measuring quality of life in people living with and beyond cancer in the UK. Supportive Care in Cancer, 1-8.
  

• Duncan M, Korszun A, White P, Eva G. Qualitative analysis of feasibility of recruitment and retention in a planned randomised controlled trial of a psychosocial cancer intervention within the NHS. Trials 2018;19:327.
  

• Duncan, M., Moschopoulou, E., Herrington, E., Deane, J., Roylance, R., Jones, L., Bourke, L., Morgan, A., Chalder, T., Thaha, M. A., Taylor, S. C., Korszun, A., White, P. D. & Bhui, K. 2017. Review of systematic reviews of non-pharmacological interventions to improve quality of life in cancer survivors. BMJ Open, 7(11), e015860.
  

• Duncan M, Deane J, White PD, Ridge D, Roylance R, Korszun A, et al. A survey to determine usual care after cancer treatment within the United Kingdom National Health Service. BMC Cancer 2017;17.