Precarious living in the age of precision medicine

The impasse of chronic malignancy

Datos Bibliográficos

ID19216481
AutoresK Kenny (0000-0001-9088-5671, The University of Sydney, autor de correspondencia), Alex Broom (0000-0003-1258-1140, The University of Sydney), L W Veazey (0000-0002-0173-3690, The University of Sydney), Ian Harper (0000-0002-3019-5123, The University of Sydney), Jianni Tien (0000-0002-9250-338X, The University of Sydney), Roberta Pala (0009-0002-9646-8515, The University of Sydney)
Año2026
Fecha de publicación2026-04-29
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00380385261434892
OpenAlexW7160407054
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas36

Owing in large part to the rise of precision medicine, cancers that were once considered ‘terminal’ now often entail long-term treatability alongside ongoing incurability. The resulting chronic malignancy is fundamentally reconfiguring the meaning and experience of living with cancer and – we argue – illustrates some of the key features of precarious living, more generally. Drawing on 132 in-depth interviews and building from Lauren Berlant’s idea of the ‘impasse’, this article explores the affective and temporal dimensions of precarious living through the case of chronic malignancy. The advent of precision medicine appears to open up new opportunities for stalling and suspending the progression of disease, but in doing so suspends and variously stalls people’s experiences of living, too. The precariousness of living with incurable cancer in the age of precision medicine thus requires navigating unfolding temporal and affective landscapes, where traditional narrative structures dissolve into the impasse of ongoing chronicity

Cancer · Key (lock) · Malignancy · Meaning (existential) · Narrative · Precision medicine · Biomedical Ethics and Regulation · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Healthcare Systems and Challenges