Applied Health Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
Turalt, Inc, Toronto, Canada.
Cancer Med. 2020 May;9(9):3015-3022. doi: 10.1002/cam4.2940. Epub 2020 Mar 2.
Minimal qualitative data exist on the experiences of cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors or costimulatory antibodies. Understanding the day to day experiences of patients being treated with immune checkpoint modulators, and how these relate to their health-related quality of life, can inform future research and lead to better clinical decision-making and care. We report here the first in depth qualitative study to consider patients' diverse and complex experiences with immune checkpoint modulators, with a focus on side effects and how these impact daily life.
This single-center qualitative study was based on focus groups and semistructured interviews. Patients who were being treated or who had been treated with immune checkpoint modulators within the last year for a range of cancer diagnoses were recruited. Interpretive description informed our inductive, iterative approach to analysis.
Eight themes were identified, characterizing the complexity of these patients' lived experiences: major categories of side effects experienced and how they impacted patient well-being; the heterogeneous nature of side effects experienced; living with uncertainty; reframing the meaning and severity of SEs; focus on survival, hope, and being positive; acceptance and adaptation; feeling supported; and faith in medical innovation. Throughout their accounts, participants highlighted the profound impact that immune checkpoint modulators had on their daily lives.
This is the first in-depth qualitative study into patient accounts of their experiences of treatment with immune checkpoint modulators, related side effects, and how it impacted their daily lives. This research is an integral initial step in developing an instrument that will assess treatment-related side effects in patients treated with this form of therapy.
关于接受免疫检查点抑制剂或共刺激抗体治疗的癌症患者的体验，仅有少量定性数据。了解接受免疫检查点调节剂治疗的患者的日常体验，以及这些体验如何影响他们的健康相关生活质量，可以为未来的研究提供信息，并有助于更好的临床决策和护理。我们在此报告第一项深入的定性研究，旨在考虑患者接受免疫检查点调节剂治疗的多样化和复杂体验，重点是副作用及其如何影响日常生活。
这项单中心定性研究基于焦点小组和半结构化访谈。招募了正在接受免疫检查点调节剂治疗或在过去一年中因各种癌症诊断而接受过免疫检查点调节剂治疗的患者。解释性描述为我们的归纳、迭代分析方法提供了信息。
确定了 8 个主题，这些主题描述了这些患者生活体验的复杂性：所经历的副作用的主要类别及其对患者健康的影响；所经历的副作用的异质性；不确定感的存在；重新定义 SE 的意义和严重程度；关注生存、希望和保持积极；接受和适应；感到支持；以及对医学创新的信任。在他们的叙述中，参与者强调了免疫检查点调节剂对他们日常生活的深远影响。
这是第一项深入的定性研究，旨在了解患者接受免疫检查点调节剂治疗、相关副作用的体验，以及这些副作用如何影响他们的日常生活。这项研究是开发评估接受这种治疗形式的患者治疗相关副作用的工具的一个不可或缺的初始步骤。
