Living Through Uncertainty and Hope: A Phenomenological Study of Cancer Patients’ Experiences with Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy
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Abstract
Regenerative medicine has emerged as a transformative field in modern healthcare, offering innovative therapies such as mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) treatment for cancer patients. While biomedical advances are well documented, less is known about how patients subjectively experience such experimental interventions. Current research often overlooks the emotional and existential dimensions of treatment, highlighting the need to understand how cancer patients interpret and find meaning in their experience with MSC therapy.
This study applies an interpretative phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of patients undergoing MSC treatment and to uncover the meanings they attach to their therapeutic journey.
Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with ten cancer patients who recently received MSC therapy, and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The results revealed four core themes: confronting uncertainty and fear, sustaining hope, navigating emotional ambivalence, and constructing meaning through cultural and spiritual frameworks. These findings illuminate how patients assign meaning to their treatment experience, not only as a medical process but as a deeply personal and contextualized journey.
This research enhances our understanding of the patient perspective in regenerative medicine and emphasizes the importance of integrating narrative, cultural, and existential factors into patient-centered care models.
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References
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