Cancer in the Small Developing Island States of the Eastern Caribbean (CaSIDEC)

July 4, 2026 updated by: Dr Aviane Auguste, Vaughan A. Lewis Institute for Research and Innovation

Overseas Care and Cancer Survivorship in Small Island Developing States of the Eastern Caribbean

Caribbean studies examining overseas cancer care were lacking patient-level data. Investigators will collect data from patients by establishing a cohort of survivors across six small island developing states (SIDS) (Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent). This proposal is novel for the Caribbean, and it is the first step in identifying the critical performance gaps and leverage points in the process of overseas referral for cancer care. Investigators will compare for the first time, the characteristics and experiences of Caribbean cancer survivors in SIDS who seek care overseas to those who received care on-island.

My overarching goal is to investigate the effects of overseas travel for care on patient-centered outcomes in Caribbean SIDS, and to build a research resource to study cancer survival, as I develop my career as an independent mixed-method investigator.

Our primary aims are to (P1): Map patterns of overseas travel for cancer care among cancer survivors of six member states of the OECS and (P2): Explore the lived experience of cancer survivors and caregivers and how overseas travel for care affects their social support systems.

Investigators anticipate that (H1) a substantial proportion of cancer survivors travel outside of their resident country for cancer. We expect certain destinations to be more frequented among cancer survivors by individual characteristics (cancer site, stage and country of residence). We also expect that (H2) overseas care may be associated with both challenges and adaptations in social support systems, as explored qualitatively through survivor and caregiver accounts.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

CaSIDEC is an acronym for "Cancer in SIDS of the Eastern Caribbean". Our overarching ambition is to explore how overseas travel for care may affect key domains of cancer survivorship. Survivorship will be our long-term focus and goes beyond survival as commonly measured in clinical trials (i.e. time to death from diagnosis) and will include measures on how individuals experience life with cancer. In this study, overseas care will be considered as any travel across international country borders (including the Caribbean) regardless of the payment mechanism (e.g. out of pocket or government subsidized).

As a first step, investigators wish to contribute towards building research capacity in SIDS. The CaSIDEC study aims to generate foundational evidence on transnational cancer care pathways and survivorship in SIDS of the Eastern Caribbean. Given the limited availability of standardized epidemiological data in this region, investigators wish to establish data resources, measurement approaches, and analytic frameworks necessary to support future hypothesis-driven and causal research on this topic.

In terms of impact, the data from the current study will guide decisions at the patient, provider and policy level. It will inform notably decisions on how overseas referral pathways should be organized across the OECS subregion.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

900

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

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

Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Primary aim 1 (P1): We will include cancer survivors 18 years of age or older, able to communicate in English or local dialect (without cognitive impairment), with an invasive cancer diagnosis (any cancer site, histology, and year of diagnosis), and having accessed health services in their island of residence (i.e. Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent ) due to their cancer. Participation will include written authorization to access each patient's data from medical records in health care institutions and centers
  • Primary aim 2 (P2): For the qualitative segment of this proposal, field investigators across the 6 islands will purposefully identify cancer survivors and caregivers of survivors who (1) are receiving or already finished their initial active treatment at the time of the study, (2) received a treatment requiring the intervention of a medical professional (e.g. surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy), and (3) are willing to provide written consent for one-on-one interviews and/or focus group discussions.

Exclusion Criteria:

-

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
Intervention / Treatment
Informal caregivers
Informal caregivers of cancer survivors diagnosed in the Eastern Caribbean
Other: Overeseas travel for care
Cancer survivors who travel overseas travel for care (observation)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Destination country for cancer treatment
Time Frame: At inclusion (0 days)
We will map and characterize patterns of overseas care.We will compute the proportion or cancer survivors who travelledtraveled overseas for diagnosis and treatment among the entire sample. The proportion of overseas travel will be computed as well by cancer site, OECS country, period of diagnosis, and type of diagnostics and treatment accessed. Where possible we will characterize overseas travel by region (Caribbean, North America, South America, Europe, and other) and by destination country.
At inclusion (0 days)
Social support system
Time Frame: At inclusion (0 days)
Qualitative interviews for social support will be initiated by an introductory question "describe the support you received during the cancer journey", then guided by questions and prompts "who", "what was the relationship to you? such as a family, friend, neighbours" and "when". Participants will be encouraged to focus on aspects of the day-to-day logistics and travel arrangements, experience living overseas.
At inclusion (0 days)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Vaughan A. Lewis Institute for Research and Innovation

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Aviane Auguste, PhD, Vaughan A. Lewis Institute for Research and Innovation

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)

September 16, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 15, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 15, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 19, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 4, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 10, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 10, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 4, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • A10-M79-24A

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Anonymised data set containing basic sociodemographic and clincal characteristics of the persons included in the final sample.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

To be defined. We intend to publish manuscripts from this work. Data availablity is expected approximately 4 years after the end of data collection with no end date

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

To be determined

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

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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