Is the 1939 Cancer Act Fit for Purpose in the Modern Technology Era?

May 7, 2026 updated by: Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust

The 1939 Cancer Act in the UK (England & Wales) prohibits advertising of cancer treatments to the public, by anyone but the NHS. The rise of the internet and social media presents new challenges to its enforcement and raises questions about unintended consequences for patients being treated for cancer.

Through anonymous surveys, this study aims to understand how patients, healthcare professionals and industry professionals perceive technological changes and their implications for online and social media cancer care information, as well as highlight opportunities for safe and ethical modernisation.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

This study will be inviting patients who have recently received treatment for cancer to participate in a single survey, about their experiences of online and social media information during their cancer journey and their views on the current law. Healthcare professionals who work with cancer patients will also be invited to participate in their own variation of this survey.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
50

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
      • Truro, United Kingdom
        • Recruiting
        • Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adults geographically resident in England or Wales, who have recent experience in receiving or providing cancer treatment.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients/Relatives:

  • UK residents (England and Wales ONLY).
  • Have been treated for a cancer within the last three years.
  • Aged 18 or over.
  • Can complete the survey themselves or have it completed on their behalf by a friend or family member (with the patient's permission).

Healthcare Professionals:

  • UK-based professionals in the healthcare industry.
  • Working with patients diagnosed with cancer.
  • Consulting with patients at least once a month or more frequently.
  • Aged 18 or over.

Exclusion Criteria:

No explicit exclusion criteria are defined within provided materials, therefore any individual not meeting the inclusion criteria will be excluded.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Patient participants- UK residents (England and Wales ONLY).
  • Aged 18 or over.
  • Have been treated for a cancer within the last three years.
  • Can complete the survey themselves or have it completed on their behalf by a friend or family member (with the patient's permission).
Healthcare Professionals (UK-based professionals in the healthcare industry.)
  • Aged 18 or over.
  • Working with patients diagnosed with cancer.
  • Consulting with patients at least once a month or more frequently.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Is the 1939 Cancer Act fit for purpose in the current digital era?
Time Frame: The study will be open for 6 months

The survey uses factual single-choice items, multiple-response items and mainly Likert-scale attitude questions.

Themes of questions and reported outcomes are:

  • Current use of online information for cancer: report descriptively.
  • Reasons for not using online/social media information. Report proportions and themes of free-text question.
  • Private healthcare information access. Report descriptively.

Following outcomes will have numerically-codes Likert scales with report of mean and standard deviation:

  • Perceived adequacy of cancer information
  • Confidence in evaluating online cancer information
  • Attitudes toward the Cancer Act 1939. Support for modernising the Cancer Act, Attitudes toward direct-to-patient advertising and advertising of alternative treatments
  • Views on digital misinformation issues

Overall view on reform. Assesses whether the Cancer Act needs reform; treat as an ordinal outcome with statistical testing (Kruskall Wallis test, P value, SD).
The study will be open for 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
University of Warwick

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 9, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 28, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 7, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 7, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2526.RCHT.19 - V1.1

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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