
“I think it’s really important that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”
This trial taught techniques to people with cancer affecting the lungs. It was to help them manage:
You might have one or more of these symptoms, if you have lung cancer or another type of cancer that has spread to your lungs.
To help manage your symptoms, you might have:
You might also see a and an
After talking to other patients and their carers, researchers in this trial developed techniques that people could do themselves to help improve their symptoms. The techniques included learning:
They hoped to test these techniques in a large group of people, but first they needed to run a small pilot (feasibility) study to see if people would find the techniques acceptable.
Everyone had the usual care they would have for these symptoms and some were also trained in the self help measures.
The aim of this trial was to find out if it would be possible to run a larger trial using these techniques.
The trial team found that people thought the techniques were acceptable and useful.
107 people took part. They were put into 1 of 2 groups at random.
The people who had the training completed a diary rating their symptoms and how often they used the techniques. They filled this in:
A member of the trial team contacted them 1 month after the sessions to see how they were getting on.
3 months after the trial started, the trial team looked at all the feedback to see how useful the techniques were. Most people in the intervention group said they practised them every day.
The trial team concluded that it was possible to do a larger trial. They hope to get enough people to join to see how well the techniques work compared with usual care.
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Professor Janelle Yorke
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
University of Manchester
Marie Curie Cancer Care
Freephone 0808 800 4040
“I think it’s really important that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”