Endometrial Cancer Telephone follow-up trial (ENDCAT)
Comparing hospital and telephone follow-up for women treated for endometrial cancer
2011-2013 (Completed) Over 7,200 British women are diagnosed a year with endometrial (womb) cancer.
Following treatment, patients attend regular outpatient appointments. However, evidence suggests that routine clinical review has little benefit in terms of survival or detection of recurrent disease.
Hospital consultations are reassuring for patients but do not always provide the information people need to live well following diagnosis and treatment.
We harnessed the skills of specialist nurses to meet the information needs of women treated for Stage I endometrial cancer, testing an alternative strategy that aims to provide a quality service to patients while relieving pressure on busy hospital clinics.
ENDCAT is an RCT investigating two forms of service provision: standard hospital outpatient follow-up (control) and a telephone intervention administered by specialist gynaecology oncology nurses (intervention).
The trial was designed to assess non-inferiority in terms of effectiveness (for psychological morbidity, clinical outcomes and quality of life) but superiority in terms of patient satisfaction (with information and service) and efficiency.