Cancer Surveillance and Support (CANVAS)

Patient Centred Models for Surveillance and Support of Cancer Survivors with Breast and Bowel Cancer

This project aims to enhance the support for patients with breast and bowel cancer after treatment. Current follow-up care includes either self-management with patient-initiated contacts (breast cancer) or scheduled hospital visits for scans/tests for recurrence (bowel cancer). Building on extensive experience with online patient self-reporting of symptoms during treatment, the study will develop, implement and evaluate satisfaction with an improved electronic system to engage breast and bowel cancer survivors to self-report symptoms/problems online from home and get immediate tailored advice for self-management or hospital contact. The reports are displayed real-time in the hospital records alongside scans/tests to inform clinical management.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Breast Cancer; Colorectal Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Online symptom reporting

Detailed Description

A structured plan of development, evaluation and implementation is proposed, based on the Medical Research Council (MRC) complex interventions framework and the principles of Action Research model (namely; Purpose choice on solving practical problems; Contextual focus; Data that helps track changes and sense making; Participation in research process and Knowledge diffusion). Action research is suited to identifying problems in clinical practice and helping develop potential solutions in order to improve practice. The study will use an experimental action research approach incorporating the action research cycle (Plan Do Study Act).

The effectiveness evaluation of patient/clinician acceptance, feasibility, patient benefits/satisfaction will be performed using a non-randomised 'Before-After study' approach, followed by immediate implementation in practice for faster patient benefits.

Main outcomes measured will include:

1. Patient-Reported Outcomes questionnaires: quality of life, symptom control, and self-efficacy.
2. Clinical measures: number of hospital contacts, recurrence rates.
3. Process measures: survivors compliance with self-reports, clinical tests attendance; using online self-management resources.

The project will be structured in four phases:

PHASE 1 (Months 0-12): Develop the content of the surveillance toolkits for breast and bowel (colorectal) cancers and setup on the electronic system. This will include the selection of cancer-specific symptoms for patient self-reporting, collating the existing evidence on side-effects management and the development of patient advice corresponding to severity levels. Once the two toolkits for breast and bowel (colorectal) cancers are completed, they will be set up on the electronic system. Printed booklets can also be produced from these.

Recruitment methods:

Cancer survivors and caregivers will be invited from outpatient surveillance clinics or by telephone by the cancer team if discharged recently from secondary care, and by public advertising for breast and colorectal cancer survivors volunteers. Purposive sampling will represent a variety of age groups, cancer recurrence risk, time post treatment, socio-economic background, expecting a sample of 8-10 survivors/carers per cancer site. Participants will be invited for an interview conducted over the telephone or at St James's Hospital.

Healthcare professionals (HCP) involved in breast and colorectal cancer care at St James's Hospital will also be invited to participate in interviews. This is done face to face at the hospital followed up by a phone call or an individual email depending on the previous conversations had between the researchers and the HCP.

Interviews will be transcribed verbatim and subjected to thematic content analysis.

Phase 1 Objectives:

1. Select questions for self-reporting
2. Determine severity thresholds
3. Determine content of the self-management guidance
4. Describe the current usual care after treatment by cancer type and how to modify it to incorporate remote surveillance
5. Identify potential improvements to the electronic system.

PHASE 2:"Before study" (Months 6-30; 12-months recruitment,12-months follow-up)The before study will be a structured audit of current practice, running in parallel with Phase 1.

Participants who consent will complete outcome measures at baseline, 3, 6 and 2 months on paper. Demographic data will be collected after consent and clinical data will be collected via the EPR.

Recruitment methods:

The study will include recruitment over 12 months of all consecutive eligible patients with a follow-up of 12 months. The estimated numbers are 120 new bowel (colorectal) cancer patients per year and 300 breast cancer patients. The study anticipates 70% consent rate, giving approximately 85 bowel (colorectal) and 210 breast cancer participants.

Phase 2 Objectives:

1. Establish data on current practice using clinical and patient outcomes and best methods for collecting them
2. Provide 'Before' data to compare to "After study" to estimate the effects of the new intervention
3. Establish prospectively what proportion of eligible patients would consent to a remote monitoring study.

PHASE 3:"After study"(Months 18-42;12-months recruitment, 12-months follow-up) Participants will be completing the intervention for 12 months. The 'After study' will start when Phase 1 is completed, including a successful usability testing.

Participants who consent will complete outcomes measures at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months on paper (same as Phase 2). In addition, they will also complete the intervention: online symptom reporting questionnaire.

Demographic data will be collected after consent and clinical data via the Electronic patient records (EPR).

Recruitment methods:

Based on current experience of other studies conducted 15% of breast and 20% of bowel (colorectal) patients will not use online resources. Therefore, the estimated number of full participants will be about 170 in breast and 70 in bowel (colorectal) cancer clinics. The remote monitoring will only be available to participants classed as being moderate to lower risk by their clinical team. The intervention is an additional service for patients conducted along side their standard cancer care.

Phase 3 Objectives:

1. Assess the effects of the intervention in terms of participants' quality of life at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
2. Examine survivors' engagement with the intervention - acceptability, feasibility and use of the online system and respective advice

3. Examine clinicians' engagement

   Secondary objectives:

4. Monitor the safety i.e. diagnoses of recurrences and psychological morbidity, how were those detected
5. Evaluate impact on participants' self-efficacy in managing cancer consequences and fear of recurrence
6. Evaluate participants' satisfaction with care
7. Compare use of National Health Service (NHS) resources in Before and After phase.

The implementation of the intervention:

The intervention (as developed in Phase 1) will be implemented following the relevant staff and participant training. The frequency of participants' completions will be determined in Phase 1. Participants will be asked to complete the online symptom monitoring from home, with the possibility to complete the questions more often, if they experience any symptoms they may wish to report. Text message or email reminders will be sent to the participants (based on their preferred contact method) as a prompt to complete the online monitoring symptom questions, and where relevant to attend for the blood tests or surveillance scans.

Providers are expected to review and respond to any notifications for significant symptoms, in line with the agreed thresholds and are expected to review the self-reports during the clinic visits, discuss them with the patient and take any actions, as appropriate.

Participants and staff interviews will be conducted during and at the end of Phase 3.

PHASE 4: (starting month 30, with specific launch activities 42-48): Roll-out and implementation in practice. Following the principles of the Action research model (Act phase), the aim is to start roll-out immediately after completion of the 12-month recruitment in the "After" study. This will involve further work to apply the learning from Phase 3:

1. Simplify patient approach and consent to integrate it into the routine clinics flow
2. Identify appropriate clinic staff to approach patients
3. Modify, if needed, the self-reported questions, the thresholds or the content of the advice.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 565

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • West Yorkshire
    • Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, LS9 7TF
      • Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Breast and Colorectal cancer patients who have completed active treatment (up to 12 months after end of treatment).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Breast and colorectal healthcare professionals (e.g. Clinical Nurse Specialists) working at St James' University Hospital

Participating patients Phases 1 and 2:

• Patients (aged 16 years or over) attending St James' University Hospital Bexley Wing, with breast and/or colorectal cancer in remission, completed their cancer treatment.
• Able and willing to give informed consent
• Able to read and understand English

Participating patients Phase 3:

• Patients (aged 16 years or over) attending St James' University Hospital Bexley Wing, with breast and/or bowel (colorectal) cancer in remission, completed their cancer treatment.
• Able and willing to give informed consent
• Able to read and understand English
• Access to the internet

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients under the age of 16
• Patients exhibiting overt psychopathology/cognitive dysfunction
• Patients taking part in other clinical trials involving the completion of extensive patient reported outcome or quality of life measures

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Other
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

4

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Breast Cancer Participants-Before Phase; Breast cancer patients (16 years old or over) who have completed active treatment will complete a series of patient reported outcomes at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months time.
Colorectal (bowel) Cancer Participants-Before Phase; Colorectal cancer patients (16 years old or over) who have completed active treatment will complete a series of patient reported outcomes at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months time.
Breast Cancer Participants-After Phase; Breast cancer patients (16 years old or over) who have completed active treatment will complete a series of patient reported outcomes at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months time. In addition they will also complete an online symptom report from home with self-management advice (frequency of completion to be determined in phase 2)	Other: Online symptom reporting; Online symptom reporting questionnaire with linked self-management advice
Colorectal (bowel) Cancer Participants-After Phase; Colorectal cancer patients (16 years old or over) who have completed active treatment will complete a series of patient reported outcomes at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months time. In addition they will also complete an online symptom report from home with self-management advice (frequency of completion to be determined in phase 2)	Other: Online symptom reporting; Online symptom reporting questionnaire with linked self-management advice

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Health related quality of life after cancer treatment	To assess the effects of the online intervention on participants' health related quality of life after cancer treatment for colorectal and breast. 1. Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Survivors scale (QLACS): Questions rated on a 1-7 point response scale, ranging from "never" to "always".	2021-2023
Disease Specific Quality of Life after cancer treatment in Colorectal - EORTC QLQ-CR29	1. European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer: EORTC QLQ colorectal module respectively (CR29): Questions are rated on a 4-7 point scale and overall scale scores are calculated from 0-100 with higher scores indicating better quality of life.	2021-2023
Disease Specific Quality of Life after cancer treatment in Breast- EORTC QLQ-BR49	1. European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer: EORTC QLQ breast module respectively (BR49): Questions are rated on a 4-7 point scale and overall scale scores are calculated from 0-100 with higher scores indicating better quality of life.	2021-2023
Intervention engagement: participant withdrawals	To examine participants' engagement with the intervention. 1) Number of participant withdrawals from the study.	2022-2023
Intervention engagement: participants returning to routine follow-up.	To examine participants' engagement with the intervention. 1) Number of patients who moved back to routine follow-up (from remote follow-up).	2022-2023
Intervention engagement: Participants' views on the online system.	To examine participants' engagement with the intervention. 1) Participants qualitative interviews.	2022-2023
Clinician engagement	To examine clinicians' engagement with the intervention. Clinician qualitative end of study interviews.	2022-2023
Participant Recruitment	Recruitment, follow-up and attrition.; Number of potentially eligible patients, number approached, number recruited vs. number not recruited, reasons for ineligibility and reasons for non-consent.; Comparison of patient characteristics in before and after phase.; Number of withdrawals.	2021-2023

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Patient Safety	To monitor the safety i.e. diagnoses of recurrences. 1) Time to recurrence/relapse and method of diagnosis (symptoms, tumour markers, scans) via Electronic patient records (EPR).	2022-2023
Patients' Self-efficacy in managing their cancer	To assess participants' self-efficacy in managing their cancer via a 6-item self-efficacy scale. 1. Self-efficacy-Lorig 6-item scale. Questions are rated on a 1 to 10 point response scale, ranging from "not at all confident" to "totally confident".	2021-2023
National Health Service (NHS) Resources	To compare use of National Health Services (NHS) resources in the Before and the After phase. 1) Use of resources by patients - via a tailored Health Economics questionnaire.	2021-2023
Intervention implementation process measures: participant adherence	Measures of implementation of the intervention. 1) Measures of implementation of the intervention - participants' adherence to regular online reporting.	2022-2023
Intervention implementation process measures: frequency of reported problems	Measures of implementation of the intervention. 1) Measures of implementation of the intervention - participants' frequency of self-reported problems and relevant advice provided.	2022-2023

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Information systems	To assess the integrity of the information systems. 1) Number of problems/issues with using the integrated system recorded via phone calls/emails from participants or clinical users to the research team.	2022-2023

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Leeds
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Galina Velikova, University of Leeds

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 22, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 11, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 8, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): February 11, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 27, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 24, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Intestinal Diseases; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Colorectal Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: L424

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No