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

Recruiting

Conditions

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

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

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

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
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

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

Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust

Collaborators

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)

January 9, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 28, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 7, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 7, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID 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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