ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2019
Certainty within uncertainty: a qualitative study of the experience of metastatic melanoma patients undergoing pembrolizumab immunotherapy.
Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07164365 (Decisional Conflict in Patients With Advanced Cancer in a Shared Decision-Making Model), which is not on this map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Decisional Conflict in Patients With Advanced Cancer in a Shared Decision-Making Model: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Experience of patients considering or using checkpoint inhibitors in cancer treatment: a systematic review of qualitative research.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Neurocognitive Function, Psychosocial Outcome, and Health-Related Quality of Life of the First-Generation Metastatic Melanoma Survivors Treated with Ipilimumab.Journal of immunology research · 2020Trial
- Perspectives of patients, partners, primary and hospital-based health care professionals on living with advanced cancer and systemic treatment.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
- Patient Views on a Pre-treatment Blood Test to Predict Outcomes Following PD-1 Inhibitor Therapy: A Qualitative Study.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- 'It's Skin Cancer'… a Rollercoaster of a Journey for Teenagers, Young People and Their Significant Other.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Article
- Cycling Through Uncertainty: The Psychological Experiences of Individuals With Lung Cancer Receiving Immunotherapy And/Or Targeted Therapy.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- Uncertainty and hope in people with metastatic uveal melanoma in the era of immunotherapy and targeted treatments: a theory-based qualitative study.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Resilience in advanced cancer patients who obtain a long-term response to immunotherapy or targeted therapy: an Ecological Momentary Assessment study.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Observational
- Exploring Motives Behind Ideal Melanoma Survivorship Care Plans With Multiple Stakeholders: A Cocreation Study.JMIR cancer · 2025Article
- Delivering improved survivorship care for people affected by advanced or metastatic cancer.Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) · 2024Article
- Living in the twilight zone: a qualitative study on the experiences of patients with advanced cancer obtaining long-term response to immunotherapy or targeted therapy.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2024Article
- Article
- Patient Voices in Rheumatic Immune-related Adverse Events.Rheumatic diseases clinics of North America · 2024Review
- Mapping the experiences of people with advanced cancer across multiple cancer types-a scoping review.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2024Article
- What patients with advanced cancer experience as helpful in navigating their life with a long-term response: a qualitative study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Stroke and liminality: narratives of reconfiguring identity after stroke and their implications for person-centred stroke care.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2024Article
- Attitudes, expectations, and lived experiences of cancer patients receiving dendritic cell vaccine therapy in Japan.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2023Article
- Article
- Decisional conflict and its determinants among patients with cancer undergoing immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy or targeted therapy: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Reliability and validity of the simplified Chinese version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Immune Checkpoint Modulator.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveLittle is known about the lived experiences of patients with metastatic melanoma undergoing checkpoint inhibitor treatment. We conducted a feasibility study of a supportive care intervention for melanoma patients being treated with pembrolizumab. Here, we report a secondary objective of the study, which was to explore the lived experience of being on pembrolizumab treatment for advanced melanoma.
methodsTwenty-eight participants with metastatic melanoma were recruited across two cohorts, all receiving 3-weekly immunotherapy treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 participants once at 9 weeks. Thematic analysis using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was performed with multiple iterations of data review to achieve consensus.
resultsThree overarching themes were identified; here, we report the first and most dominant theme: how metastatic melanoma patients live within uncertain spaces. Although immunotherapy increases overall survival, metastatic melanoma patients live within an uncertain spectrum. They confront uncertainty related to immunotherapy treatment, their disease trajectory, family relationships, and decision-making. Melanoma patients attempt to normalize their lives, engaging in their usual activities. Uncertainty increases prior to active treatment and intensifies during investigation phases.
conclusionsDespite progress in melanoma patient treatment and outcomes, these patients face sustained uncertainty about their disease trajectory.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.