Dr Daniella Holland-Hart, a former WCRC-funded researcher at the Wales Cancer Research Centre has led a newly published study in BMJ Open exploring participants’ perspectives of the VALTIVE1 study. VALTIVE1 is a non-randomised, observational, biomarker study to determine the clinical value of measuring plasma Tie2 concentrations in patients with ovarian cancer who are receiving bevacizumab.
The article, titled “Participants’ perspectives of the advanced ovarian cancer biomarker study VALTIVE1: a qualitative study” discusses participants experiences of taking part in the study and receiving the treatments. It also explored how participants would feel about having bevacizumab discontinued if the blood test indicated that bevacizumab was not working during a potential VALTIVE2 randomised control trial.
It identified that most participants felt that it was acceptable, if not preferable, to be allocated to a group in a future VALTIVE2 study where bevacizumab may be discontinued according to the results from the biomarker test. A clear preference of participants was to be informed of the biomarker test results and long-term treatment side effects.
The study’s findings offer valuable insights for improving participants’ experiences in a potential VALTIVE2 trial, including being informed of the biomarker test results, health status and ongoing support for treatment side effects.
The full article is available in BMJ Open