The Experience of Patients with Cancer and Their Informal Caregivers Related to Adoptive Cell Therapy: A Qualitative Systematic Review.

Abstract

Objectives: Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) is a growing personalized immuno-oncology approach, delivered both in standard of care (SOC) and clinical trial (CT) settings. Understanding patient and informal caregivers (ICs) experiences is crucial to optimizing care. This qualitative systematic review explores the ACT experience across three elements: actors (patients and ICs), settings (CT and SOC), and phases of the care continuum.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted across Medline, Embase, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, Cochrane, Web of Science, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, and Google Scholar up to May 8, 2024. Studies were appraised using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research, with data extracted and synthesized using a meta-aggregation approach. MAXQDA was used to generate co-occurrence networks between key elements and inductively derived codes. A comparative sentiment analysis highlighted emotional differences between CT and SOC settings.

Results: Nineteen qualitative studies were included, capturing experiences of patients (n = 19) and ICs (n = 7) receiving chimeric antigen receptor T cell (n = 17) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (n = 2) therapy in CT (n = 13) and SOC (n = 9) settings. Findings revealed phase-specific challenges across physical, cognitive, psychological, emotional, social, financial, professional, communication, and informational domains. These challenges originate from ACT-related toxicities, care pathway complexity, and the novel nature of the therapy.

Conclusions: This review identifies the key challenges faced by patients and ICs throughout the ACT care pathway, emphasizing the need for tailored interventions based on the phase and setting, as well as improved support systems.

Implications for nursing practices: Recommended strategies include developing decision support tools, establishing caregiver support programs, and implementing navigation services to enhance patient and ICs experiences.