Funding awarded to Sydney cancer research centre

New study to commence on cancer survivors & chronic fatigue

The National Centre for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) at the University of NSW in Sydney has been awarded a funding grant for research to improve the quality of life of Australian cancer survivors.

The NCCS has been awarded more than $155,000 to research fatigue states including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Post-Cancer Fatigue, a common struggle for many cancer survivors.

Dr. Ben Barry of the NCCS said the funding boost would be used to investigate how to manage both medically unexplained fatigue and fatigue experienced by patients who survive cancer.

“Almost one million Australians are cancer survivors, so this research into Post-Cancer Fatigue and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) has the potential to help many people living with ongoing fatigue whether it be medically unexplained or as a result of the after-effects of cancer and cancer treatment,” Dr Barry said.

“The funding will be used in two ways; to investigate how to better manage energy levels in patient suffering from ongoing fatigue and to develop an online education course to teach the medical community how to better manage various fatigue conditions.

The funding grant was recently awarded by The Mason Foundation National Medical Program.

“We are so thankful to The Mason Foundation for granting us the funding and allowing this important work into improving the lives of those suffering from severe ongoing fatigue to continue,” Dr Barry said.

“While it’s comforting to know that four out of five children, and two out of three adults who are diagnosed with cancer will survive long term, life after cancer presents its own unique set of health challenges. This makes our research more important than ever, and we hope it can make a difference in the lives of cancer survivors and all those living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,” he said.

MEDIA CONTACT – Kirsty Wallett – 0418 234 685

National Centre for Cancer Survivorship www.nccs.unsw.edu.au Located at University of New South Wales, the National Centre for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) is Australia’s leading integrated centre of research and clinical serv ices focused on renewing quality of life for people who have survived cancer. Through research, NCCS identifies the needs and develops new interventions to enable cancer health practitioners to provide the best care and support surv ivors require.

File Attachment:

NCCS_MEDIA_RELEASE_020216_FINAL.pdf

Date Published:

Tuesday, 2 February 2016

Testimonials

"At first a felt a bit funny about talking to a lady about my problems after my cancer treatment, but my doctor is really nice and really understanding. Plus she is an oncologist so she understands all the medical stuff that goes along with cancer treatment so I didn't have to explain things to her the way I did to my GP. I felt like she really understood where I was coming from and gave me some good strategies to help with my issues. And she wrote a care plan and sent a copy to my GP as well, so hopefully now when I go to see him he will feel like he is better able to treat me."

Anthony, prostate cancer survivor

"At 26 I was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer... having survived this (thanks to a great medical team), I ‘floundered’ for many years with the resulting impact of early menopause, fertility issues and general fatigue. Even worse, I felt extreme guilt that I should be able to overcome these issues easily as I survived when others didn’t, I really didn’t have the right to ever complain again. This impacted directly on my confidence, self esteem and identity. ……I am now 46, have 2 children, a partner, a career and a good life. However, the struggle I had undergone, in pretty much isolation, has been hard. Even friends and family who were great during treatment felt I should ‘just move on’. The establishment of this centre is a great comfort as it shows there is now a greater awareness of cancer survivor issues to hopefully ensure better long term support for people who have had cancer."

Melinda, ovarian cancer survivor

"I am aware of the National Centre for Cancer Survivorship and support them in their mission to find new and better ways to care for cancer survivors through research. With the high number of Australians now surviving cancer or living with ongoing cancer for many years, we need to better understand the health issues confronting this group and develop interventions to address their unique and often complex needs. As someone who has worked in the medical oncology setting for 20 years, I believe the National Centre for Cancer Survivorship is leading the way in this work."

Dr Elizabeth Hovey, MB BS FRACP MSC - Medical Oncologist, SESIAHS & UNSW, Prince of Wales Hospital

"As Director of the Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital and Professor of Paediatrics at the University of NSW, I have watched the development of the National Centre for Cancer Survivorship over the last few years. I strongly support the opportunity the Centre provides to bring together research focusing on survivors of childhood cancer with that focusing on adult survivors. In both areas it is clear that there are many unresolved challenges in understanding the health care needs of cancer survivors, and developing best practice interventions for both prevention and treatment of those problems. I believe wholeheartedly that the work that being undertaken through the Centre will benefit both kids and adult survivors people for many years to come."

Professor Glenn Marshall, AM, MB, BS, FRACP, MD Paediatric Haematologist & Oncologist, Director, Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital