Cancer

Current projects

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• Developing a questionnaire for measuring quality of life in people with metastatic uveal melanoma

  This collaboration with members of Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials (MASC) Trials will develop a questionnaire for measuring the impacts of disease and treatment that can be used as an outcome measure in clinical trials.

  The first part of the project has been funded by St Vincent’s Hospital and will focus on content validation through interviews and focus groups with consumers and clinicians.

  Chief Investigators

  Dr Tim Luckett

  Associate Professor Brendan Mulhern

• Geriatric oncology trial

  More than half of newly diagnosed people with cancer are 65 years and older, and this number is expected to increase as the population ages. It has been demonstrated that chronological age alone is insufficient to plan cancer treatment and supportive care for this patient group, and a more comprehensive assessment is needed to avoid poor outcomes.

  In the Australian context, a system is needed to ensure that older people with cancer who require comprehensive geriatric assessment and the subsequent care for any problems identified, have access to comprehensive assessments. Also, oncologists need to be equipped with the skills to use these assessments in decisions about cancer treatments.

  The first stage of this study has commenced and is focused on developing a model of care, which includes:

  • a screening assessment for all older people with cancer
  • comprehensive geriatric assessment by a trained nurse for those who have issues identified on screening, and
  • an education package for oncologists to equip them with skills to use these assessments in cancer care planning.

  The second stage of the study will implement this model in cancer centres and compare it to the usual approach to care of older cancer patients, in a randomised trial.

  This trial remains open for recruiting.

  Funding

  SPHERE Cancer Academic Group SEED Grant

  Chief Investigators

  Professor Meera Agar

  Emerita Professor Jane Phillips

• Opioid risks in the cancer context

  Risks from opioids prescribed to people with cancer: How should Australian policy and practice respond to international alarm?

  In 2019, harms from over-prescribing of opioids to people with chronic non-cancer pain continued to attract much attention in research, policy and media around the world. It has generally been assumed that prescribing opioids for people with cancer represents a different clinical paradigm to non-cancer pain, but previous collaborative research led by IMPACCT suggests that people with cancer may be exposed to some of the same drivers of opioid over-prescribing observed in the general population.

  Together with collaborators from UNSW’s Centre for Big Data Research in Health, IMPACCT is building on this work by examining how opioid treatment pathways change for people during the 24 months before and following a cancer diagnosis to observe the ways in which cancer changes clinicians’ approach to prescribing.

  We are using a large, linked dataset for all adults initiating an opioid medicine between 2002 and 2018 in NSW. The dataset comprises linked PBS dispensing records, MBS medical service claims, hospital diagnoses and procedures from the NSW Admitted Patients Data Collection (APDC) and NSW Emergency Department Data Collection (EDDC); date of death from the National Death Index (NDI); and cancer notifications from the ACD (date of diagnosis and topography and morphology codes).

  Funding

  UTS Faculty of Health, $14,800

  Chief investigators

  Dr Tim Luckett

  Professor Toby Newton-John

  Emerita Professor Jane Phillips

  Dr Simon Holliday

  Dr Karleen Giannitrapani

  Associate Professor Gawaine Powell-Davies [opens external site]

  Associate Professor Melanie Lovell [opens external site]

  Associate Professor Winston Liauw [opens external site]

  Professor Debra Rowett [opens external site]

  Professor Sallie-Ann Pearson

  Dr.Home - Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Benjamin Daniels [opens external site]

  Dr Hanna Tervonen

  Bronwyn Raymond

  Dr Nicole Heneka

  Professor Karl Lorenz 

• Optimising the toileting capability of people with advanced cancer as function declines

  This prospective cohort study (proof of concept) aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of interventions and outcome measures for use in a future randomised controlled trial.

  Participants with advanced cancer will be recruited from two acute hospitals in South Australia and Victoria. They will receive a hands-on OT intervention to optimise independence with toileting while an inpatient and also receive.

  Interventions will be standardised across both sites to ensure consistency of approach. Baseline measures will be taken at:

  • pre-OT assessment
  • Timepoint 2 (during admission & within 24 hours of last intervention
  • TP 3 (post discharge and within 24 hours of last OT intervention, phone follow-up), and
  • TP 4 (1 week post intervention (phone follow up).

  Carers play a significant role in supporting patients at home who have difficulty managing toileting. For this reason, carers will be included in the intervention where relevant. This will include education prior to discharge and a needs assessment post discharge.

  This study builds on an existing successful CI research collaboration (competitive grant from Occupational Therapy Australia) that examines dignity with intimate hygiene at the end of life.

  Collaborating partners

  Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC)

  Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

  Flinders Medical Centre

  Investigators

  Dr Deidre Morgan [opens external site]

  Celia Marston [opens external site]

• The Women's Wellness Research Program (WWP)

  The Women's Wellness Research Program (WWP) brings together a range of disciplines in chronic disease including diabetes, breast cancer, menopause, and older and younger women’s health research.

  Professor Anderson has been leading a team of researchers to identify patterns and clusters of risk factors impacting on women’s health. This knowledge has then been translated into strategies to reduce the risk of disease and, in turn, maximise wellness in women across settings, populations and disease groups, including:

  • The Women’s Wellness Program
  • The Young Women’s Wellness Program
  • The Women’s Wellness with Diabetes Type 2 Program
  • The Pasifika Women’s Wellness with Diabetes Type 2 Program
  • The Women’s Wellness after Cancer Program, and
  • The Young Women’s Wellness after Cancer Program.

  The WWP has attracted excellent funding from a variety of sources including Category 1, 2 and 4 sources, supported four post-doctoral and ten PhD students from five countries.

  This program has grown under Professor Anderson's leadership to a vibrant multidisciplinary team. The program is the result of a systematic, clinically oriented, and methodologically robust body of research undertaken in collaboration with clinician and patient end-users.

  Program outcomes have enhanced the wellbeing of women and driven meaningful and economical practices in women’s health service delivery. The program is currently being delivered and tested in clinical settings including Wesley Choices, True North Wellness, Gold Coast University Hospital, with negotiations continuing for Cancer Council Queensland and Genesis.

  Further information can be found on the website Dawncomplete - Complete Health and Wellbeing.

  Investigator

  Professor Debra Anderson