An observational study in Cancer, CUP and Cancer Unknown Primary, sponsored by The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-20.
Sponsored by The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust · Observational
This project aims to improve care, service delivery, and patient experience for people with Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP) by addressing a critical gap in understanding the lived experiences of patients and carers. By exploring how individuals navigate diagnostic uncertainty, fragmented care pathways, and interactions with healthcare professionals, the study will identify key points of distress, unmet need, and communication breakdown.
The findings will support the development of more person-centred and compassionate care, including clearer communication, improved service coordination, and better recognition of the psychological and emotional impact of CUP. By highlighting the challenges of uncertainty and lack of diagnostic clarity, the project will inform more tailored support for both patients and carers.
A unique strength of this study is the inclusion of a professional illustrator to visually capture focus group discussions, supporting the narrative inquiry approach and aiding the interpretation of shared meanings within the data. These visual summaries will enhance engagement, inclusivity, and accessibility, ensuring that complex experiences are communicated clearly to patients, carers, clinicians, and wider audiences.
Through strong PPIE involvement and accessible dissemination, patient and carer voices will directly inform service improvements and future care design.
Overall, this project will help ensure CUP care is more coordinated, communicative, inclusive, and responsive to patient and carer needs, ultimately improving experience, wellbeing, and trust in healthcare services.
10,818 studies on the registry are indexed under Neoplasms; 2,324 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 20 is below the median of 200 across 2,638 observational studies indexed under Neoplasms.
Browse Neoplasms studies →The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the lead sponsor of 19 studies on the registry; 9 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Participants for this study are patients with CUP and their carers
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Inform improvements to CUP pathways, information resources, and support services
Narrative and thematic findings derived from qualitative analysis of participant focus groups and semi-structured interviews, including themes relating to diagnostic uncertainty, treatment experiences, communication with healthcare professionals, psychological impact, coping, and meaning-making
Time frame: 2 years
No study locations are listed for this record.
Plan to share: Undecided
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Jul 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust