MyMelanoma is the most ambitious melanoma research project ever undertaken in the UK.
The study team set out to create the world’s largest and most comprehensive melanoma database - with a massive target - recruiting 20,000 participants over a 5 year duration between 2022 and 2027.
Finding eligible, willing participants at this pace and scale required an innovative approach.
The solution: Targeted Be Part of Research outreach
To turbo-charge their early recruitment strategy, the study team partnered with the NIHR’s Be Part of Research volunteer registry from the outset.
The study team utilised Be Part of Research’s extensive registry of volunteers and targeting capabilities to send 9,470 emails with clear information about the study.
The Be Part of Research team sent these directly to volunteers who matched the study’s eligibility criteria, based on volunteers’ demographics and health interests.
The impact: High conversions, rapid results
The targeted Be Part of Research campaign delivered immediate results for the study:
- 475 participants were rapidly enrolled directly through the Be Part of Research registry email outreach
- 5.02% participant conversion rate from the targeted mailouts - an exceptional return for a key observational cancer study
- Immediate momentum: Be Part of Research directly secured nearly 2.5% of the study’s overall 5-year recruitment target in the early stages of delivery
“Finding the right participants for a study can be challenging. And from a patient perspective - it’s not always obvious where to find opportunities to take part.
Be Part of Research bridges that gap - making it easier for researchers to recruit and for participants to find studies relevant to them.”
- Prof Mark Middleton
The MyMelanoma study is led by the University of Oxford, funded by Cancer Research UK and Melanoma Focus and delivered with the support of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
A participant's perspective
Beatrice Buckley, a 39-year-old mum of twin boys, was invited to take part in MyMelanoma through Be Part of Research.
She was diagnosed and treated for stage 3 acral melanoma two years ago, when her children were still toddlers.
As part of the study, she answered two online questionnaires about her lifestyle, health and personal and family cancer history. This information will be linked anonymously with her NHS records.
About Be Part of Research, Beatrice said: “It’s been a really easy, seamless experience. Life is busy isn’t it? I'm not sure how else people would find out about studies that they would be eligible for.”
Prof Mark Middleton, adds: “There is still much that needs to be done to improve the quality of melanoma patient care internationally.
"MyMelanoma aims to help researchers understand how to deliver that improvement as quickly as possible. It has the potential to help us find new drug treatments, as well as give us a better understanding of factors that influence relapse, genetic links to other cancers and the impact on quality of life that melanoma has.
“This trial is an important step forward in skin cancer research and we urge anyone with a history of melanoma to take part.”
Discover how Be Part of Research can deliver targeted, high-converting volunteers for your study.
Find out more about the Be Part of Research volunteer registry or complete our study registration form to get started.
