Research Assistant, University of Stirling
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Research Assistant, University of StirlingOverviewResearch Assistant position to work with Professor Gozde Ozakinci on a NIHR funded project Ë PET-CT guided, symptom-based, patient-initiated surveillance versus clinical follow-up in advanced head neck cancer (PETNECK 2)'. This is a part-time role (FTE 50%) and is fixed term for up to 18 months.Project SummaryHead and neck cancer is increasing rapidly, with 12,000 patients diagnosed in the UK each year. Currently, people finishing treatment attend a clinic review every 2-6 months for 5 years to check if the cancer has come back (called recurrence). If caught early, there is a better chance of successful treatment. However, most patients feel they are seen too frequently, which increases their worry about cancer recurrence. It is also inefficient because few cancers are found this way, and clinical services struggle with increasing demand. Recurrent cancers are much more likely to be found when patients ask to be seen because their symptoms have changed. Studies also show that a new type of scan, called PET-CT, done 1-year after treatment can identify patients who are unlikely to get recurrence and could therefore be followed up less frequently.We have developed a new way of following up patients, called patient-led follow-up, which proposes patients have a PET-CT scan 1-year after finishing treatment. If no cancer is detected, they will be given an education session, by a nurse, about what symptoms of recurrent cancer to look out for. The information will also be given in print and online. They will then be on an Ë open urgent appointment', which guarantees review by their clinical team within 2 weeks if they develop worrying symptoms, instead of regular clinic visits. We are now running a multi-centre national clinical study, comparing this new PET-CT guided, patient-initiated follow-up with the current routine follow-up (We aim to find out: which way of follow-up is better at detecting cancer recurrence,what effects these two ways have on patients' experience, worry about recurrence and quality-of-life,which follow-up way costs less, although this is not the main reason for running this study.The postholder will work with the wider PETNECK2 team and will be based at the University of Stirling, examining the fears of cancer recurrence both qualitatively and quantitatively between the two arms of the study. The postholder will conduct and analyse some baseline and follow-up interviews on fear of cancer recurrence as well as analyse questionnaire data collected as part of the clinical study.The post holders will join the Health Psychology Research Group.#J-18808-Ljbffr