The Virtual RealiTy and mUsic in the Oncology SEtting (VRtuose) study is a collaborative project between the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and Centre Léon Bérard, one of the major cancer treatment centres in France. The project aims to evaluate the feasibility of implementing virtual reality (VR) devices in an outpatient chemotherapy unit to improve the quality of life of patients with breast cancer who are undergoing treatment.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer type in women worldwide, and chemotherapy is a common treatment for breast cancer. Chemotherapy can lead to side-effects that may severely alter the quality of life of women during treatment and beyond and can be exacerbated by increasing anxiety in anticipation of the next chemotherapy session. To alleviate these symptoms, several alternative therapies have been developed in recent years, and interest is growing in the use of VR as a distraction technique in oncology. However, research about the feasibility of implementing this technology in nursing practices in an outpatient chemotherapy unit and its efficacy in reducing chemotherapy side-effects remains scarce. Therefore, researchers from IARC and a partner institution have initiated the VRtuose study to answer these questions. The VRtuose feasibility study, which is funded by a 2023 Quality of Life prize from the Association Ruban Rose, is expected to have a duration of 2 years.