The Hospital Research Foundation Group is proud to announce a $195,000 commitment to improve people’s quality of life after bowel cancer treatment.
There are more than 15,000 people diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in Australia – the third most commonly diagnosed cancer.
Despite early detection improving survival rates, the ongoing side effects from treatment can affect people’s physical, social and psychological health.
Two new grants have been announced as part of the commitment, made possible thanks to our generous donors, that will focus on improving people’s quality of life by managing their ongoing symptoms such as fatigue and nerve pain caused by treatment.
The two new projects include:
Dr Matthew Wallen – Improving fatigue through digital physical activity
Flinders University
Bowel cancer survivors commonly experience high levels of fatigue and associated negative impacts on their physical and psychosocial functioning and quality of life.
Physical activity is known to improve fatigue and this world-first project will co-design, implement, and evaluate a digital, remotely-administered, individualised physical activity intervention aimed at reducing fatigue in bowel cancer survivors.
Professor Joanne Bowen – Improving treatment for ongoing nerve pain
University of Adelaide
Bowel cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy often experience ongoing nerve pain, in a condition called chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).
CIPN has no treatments, and this project will be the first to test a brain modulation therapy called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Prof Bowen and her team will determine whether pain is improved using TMS and work towards further expanding this approach for cancer survivors.
We would like to acknowledge and thank our donors, fundraisers, partners and ticket buyers in The Hospital Research Foundation Home Lottery who make it possible to fund these life-changing projects for bowel cancer survivors.
