Chronicity in/and cancer: a qualitative interview study of health professionals, patients, and family carers

The landscape of cancer is changing, with earlier detection and the emergence of new treatment options signalling the potential reconfiguration of cancer (for some) as a chronic condition. Cancer is increasingly experienced in terms of chronicity, incorporating both ongoing episodes of acute treatment alongside the long-term management of disease, symptoms, and side effects. This emphasis refocuses attention toward living-with, as well as beyond, cancer. Yet, how cancer chronicity is understood and experienced by both patients and healthcare professionals remains underexplored. While sociological scholarship has critically analysed how chronic illness has been positioned as a problem of/for the person and/or the healthcare system, less attention has been paid to instances like cancer, where chronicity might be viewed as reflective of forms of success (e.g. through the deferral of mortality even in the absence of ‘cure’). In this paper we draw on qualitative interview data from a large study of cancer survivorship including patients, their family carers and health professionals, across two Australian hospitals. We critically analyse the dimensions of chronicity in the cancer sphere, understanding cancer-as-chronicity as producing a particular form of subjectivity, shaped by the everyday management and experience of treatment, impairment, symptoms, and side-effects. We posit that constructions of cancer as chronic, and associated imperatives linked to longevity, commitment, and resilience, are placing new demands on patients, family carers, and professionals alike.