MOBILE cancer testing pathways were mapped using an implementation-aware Target Product Profile (iTPP), highlighting the need to define responsibilities for results, referrals, records and follow-up before services are introduced.
The qualitative method-development study used the Man Van mobile prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing pathway as an exemplar. Researchers emphasised that the work was not designed to assess service effectiveness, but to develop a structured approach for planning outreach testing.
The iTPP adapted the Target Product Profile concept used in diagnostic-test development. It was designed to translate evidence about service delivery and handover into a register of requirements. These were categorised according to whether they were essential, quality-enhancing, dependent on local arrangements or in need of further evidence.
The study drew on interviews with 23 attenders, 13 planning and delivery stakeholders, and 11 prospective stakeholders. Interview data were examined using the Framework Method alongside abductive analysis.
The resulting Man Van register contained 42 attributes spanning six clusters: outreach legitimacy; privacy and dignity; deliverability; test acceptability and performance uncertainty; counselling and next steps; and data integration with primary care.
A central finding concerned the handover of care. The framework identified result ownership, integration with patient records, safety-netting and loop closure as important requirements. Loop closure was defined around documented acceptance of responsibility by a named receiving service when further action was required.
The researchers did not present diagnostic thresholds, referral ratios, staffing ratios, outreach pacing, unit costs or equity effects as universal requirements. Instead, these were placed within an Evidence and Decision Agenda for further investigation.
The findings suggest that making cancer testing available outside conventional clinical settings requires more than establishing access to the test itself. The iTPP provides a pre-rollout method for identifying how eligibility information, informed choice, privacy, documentation, communication of results, referral and follow-up should be managed.
For healthcare professionals planning mobile cancer testing, the approach distinguishes features that should be retained from those that can be adapted locally. It also highlights areas where evidence remains insufficient to establish universal requirements.
Reference
Kierkegaard P et al. Specifying pathway requirements for mobile outreach cancer testing before rollout: an implementation-aware Target Product Profile method. Implement Sci Commun. 2026;doi: 10.1186/s43058-026-01041-7.
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