ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2024
Mini-AFTERc: a controlled pilot trial of a nurse-led psychological intervention for fear of breast cancer recurrence.
Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Interventions to Reduce Fear of Cancer Recurrence Among People With Cancer: Scoping Review.JMIR cancer · 2026Article
- Step-by-step: A clinical pathway for stepped care management of fear of cancer recurrence-results of a three-round online delphi consensus process with Australian health professionals and researchers.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo determine the feasibility and acceptability of implementing the Mini-AFTERc intervention.
designNon-randomised cluster-controlled pilot trial.
settingFour NHS out-patient breast cancer centres in Scotland.
participantsNinety-two women who had successfully completed primary treatment for breast cancer were screened for moderate levels of fear of cancer recurrence (FCR). Forty-five were eligible (17 intervention and 28 control) and 34 completed 3-month follow-up (15 intervention and 21 control).
interventionMini-AFTERc, a single brief (30 min) structured telephone discussion with a specialist breast cancer nurse (SBCN) trained to target the antecedents of FCR. OUTCOMES: Feasibility and acceptability of Mini-AFTERc and the study design were assessed via recruitment, consent, retention rates, patient outcomes (measured at baseline, 2, 4, and 12 weeks), and post-study interviews with participants and SBCNs, which were guided by Normalisation Process Theory.
resultsMini-AFTERc was acceptable to patients and SBCNs. SBCNs believe the implementation of Mini-AFTERc to be feasible and an extension of discussions that already happen routinely. SBCNs believe delivery, however, at the scale required would be challenging given current competing demands for their time. Recruitment was impacted by variability in the follow-up practices of cancer centres and COVID-19 lockdown. Consent and follow-up procedures worked well, and retention rates were high.
conclusionsThe study provided invaluable information about the potential challenges and solutions for testing the Mini-AFTERc intervention more widely where limiting high FCR levels is an important goal following recovery from primary breast cancer treatment.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT0376382 . Registered on 4 December 2018.
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