The nature and impact of patient and public involvement in cancer prevention, screening and early detection research: a systematic review

Patient and public involvement in research has become increasingly common in the past few years. The question stands: Does patient and public involvement contribute to cancer research that better addresses unmet needs? A new systematic review by a team of researchers and consumers showed that high-level involvement of patients and the public in cancer research is not only feasible but provides benefits to high-quality research that is more relevant to patients and their families. This particular review looked at patient and public involvement in cancer prevention, screening, and detection research due to a lack of evidence in this area. Of the 50 studies included in the review, most involvement took place during the early phases of research at a significant level. This led to improved study design and methodology, as well as recruitment for the study. However, there was a lack of consistency in the reporting of patient and public involvement, with limited details around the nature and methods of evaluating involvement. Without a clear framework, patient and public involvement in cancer research is yet to be optimised for different stages of the research cycle. This highlights an opportunity for guidelines to be developed around the evaluation and reporting of the impact of patient and public involvement across all stages of cancer research, which will hopefully lead to an increase in relevant research that improves patient outcomes. Read the original article here. Listen to one of the lead authors talk about the results here