The sociology of cancer: a decade of research

Kerr, A. , Ross, E., Jacques, G. and Cunningham-Burley, S. (2018) The sociology of cancer: a decade of research. Sociology of Health and Illness, 40(3), pp. 552-576. (doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.12662) (PMID:29446117) (PMCID:PMC5901049)

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.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The research on which the paper is based was supported by the Wellcome Trust [104831/Z/14/Z].
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kerr, Professor Anne
• Authors: Kerr, A., Ross, E., Jacques, G., and Cunningham-Burley, S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Sociology of Health and Illness
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0141-9889
• ISSN (Online): 1467-9566
• Published Online: 15 February 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Sociology of Health and Illness 4(3): 552-576
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License