The sociology of cancer: a decade of research

Abstract

Biomedicine is often presented as the driving force behind improvements in cancer care, with genomics the latest innovation poised to change the meaning, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and lived experience of cancer. Reviewing sociological analyses of a diversity of patient and practitioner experiences and accounts of cancer during the last decade (2007–17), we explore the experiences of, approaches to and understandings of cancer in this period. We identify three key areas of focus: (i) cancer patient experiences and identities; (ii) cancer risk and responsibilities and (iii) bioclinical collectives. We explore these sociological studies of societal and biomedical developments and how sociologists have sought to influence developments in cancer identities, care and research. We end by suggesting that we extend our understanding of innovations in the fields of cancer research to take better account of these wider social and cultural innovations, together with patients, activists' and sociologists' contributions therein.

Dietary responses to a multiple sclerosis diagnosis: a qualitative study

“…33 Expert medical knowledge can influence patients' behaviours and their experiences with how they construct meaning of their illness, particularly in creating lay knowledge and explanations. 34 The initial codes were grouped into categories and subcategories based on similarities and differences, then narrowed down and organised into themes. Peer debriefing was used to confirm the emerging themes by an experienced qualitative researcher (AB) and then broadly discussed with the research team in a number of meetings focused on emerging codes and questions to be explored in successive interviews.…”

Stable, fragile and recreated – a qualitative study of agency in everyday life with breast and prostate cancer

“…However, in the light of the detailed analysis and the insights from previous literature, it is possible to argue that constructions of agency in everyday life with cancer have not changed significantly between 2009 and 2019. For example, during the past decade there have been many biomedical advances in cancer care, but a critical review of sociological research in the period 2007-2017 points out that biomedical knowledge has also brought new challenges regarding the ways in which people experience cancer, their identities and their responsibilities in their daily lives (Kerr et al, 2018; see also Paal, 2010, p. 37-40). This supports the argument that the ways in which cancer affects peoples' everyday lives and the constructions and fluctuations in agency are not bound to any particular era (e.g., Caiata-Zufferey 2015; Davies et al, 2018).…”

“…This creates the need to study cancer in patients' ordinary life contexts (e.g., Isaksson, Salander, Lilliehorn, & Laurell, 2016;Salander, Lilliehorn, Hamperg, & Kero, 2011). Previous research has focused on patients' quality of life and everyday life experiences after cancer treatments (e.g., Kerr, Ross, Jaques, & Cunningham-Burley, 2018;Pedresen, Koktved, & Nielsen, 2013;Salander, Bergenheim, & Henriksson, 2000;Sekse, Raaheim, Blaaka, & Gjengedal, 2010). The experience of cancer brings profound changes in bodily and psychosocial functioning into patients' day-to-day lives, and this generates the need for information and support from health care professionals (Pedresen et al, 2013;Sekse et al, 2010;Swenne, Jangland, & Arakelian, 2017).…”

The convivial and the pastoral in patient–doctor relationships: a multi‐country study of patient stories of care, choice and medical authority in cancer diagnostic processes

“…This is a specific context and cancer has somewhat unique cultural connotations (Kerr et al . ). We would therefore expect that analysis of normative boundaries of patient experiences of other diseases might differ.…”

“…However, those interventions have also served to increase the complexity of embodied knowledge and practices around cancer diagnostic processes (Andersen , Kerr et al . , Ziebland et al . ).…”