ArticleJCO oncology practice2025
Patient and Caregiver Experience With the Hope and Prognostic Uncertainty of Immunotherapy: A Qualitative Study.
Article in JCO oncology practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Key challenges in communication across milestones of cancer care continuum: a systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2026Pooled it
- Pilot Feasibility Trial of a Supportive Care Digital Application for Patients with Advanced Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer.Journal of palliative medicine · 2025Trial
- Characterizing Survivors Living With Likely Incurable Cancer: A Closer Look at an Emerging Population.JCO oncology practice · 2026Review
- A qualitative study investigating clinician experiences with lecanemab implementation across seven academic medical centers.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Prognostic disclosure in metastatic breast cancer: a scoping review.The oncologist · 2026Article
- Heterogeneous treatment effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors by pretreatment prognosis in randomized controlled trials.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2026Article
- Impact on Quality of Life and Psychological Dimensions in Caregivers of Melanoma and Sarcoma Patients: A Scoping Review.Cancers · 2026Review
- Economic burden ofFrontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Immunotherapy Decision-Making Experiences of Patients With Cancer and Their Family Caregivers: A Qualitative Study.The journal of nursing research : JNR · 2025Article
- Characterizing Inquiries About Novel Cancer Therapies: Findings from the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service.Journal of immunotherapy and precision oncology · 2025Article
- Development of the SCNS-TARGET: a new tool to assess unmet needs in cancer patients utilising immuno-, biological or precision therapies.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeImmunotherapy has improved survival for patients with melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Yet, as responses vary widely, immunotherapy also introduces challenges in prognostic communication. In this study, we sought to explore how patients and caregivers learned about the goal of immunotherapy and their experience of living with uncertainty. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe conducted a qualitative study of patients with stage III or IV melanoma or stage IV NSCLC within 12 weeks of initiating or 12 months of discontinuing immunotherapy, and their caregivers. We conducted in-depth interviews with participants to explore how they learned about immunotherapy from oncology clinicians and how they experienced uncertainty. We used a framework approach to analyze interview transcripts and synthesized concepts into themes.
resultsForty-two patients and 10 caregivers participated; median age was 67 years and most were male (68%), white (95%), married (61%), and had melanoma (62%). We identified four themes: (1) the oncology team shaped participants' hopeful expectations of immunotherapy, including as a potential cure among those with melanoma; (2) distress related to prognostic uncertainty particularly affected patients who experienced toxicity or progressive disease; (3) patients who did not have long-term responses experienced overwhelming disappointment; and (4) some patients and caregivers had conflicting preferences for prognostic information. Participants provided suggestions to improve education and underscored unmet psychosocial needs.
conclusionPatients and caregivers held optimistic expectations of immunotherapy, which resulted in heightened disappointment among the subset with progression or toxicity. Clinicians should elicit information preferences of both patients and caregivers, as these may be disparate. Our results highlight the need to optimize prognostic communication and support for living with uncertainty among patients receiving immunotherapy.
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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 Socratic graph.