Funding boost for breast cancer researchers
Published: 19 March 2009
A research project investigating the potential benefits of a complementary therapy for breast cancer patients has received funding from the charity Breast Cancer Campaign.
A research project investigating the potential benefits of a complementary therapy for breast cancer patients has received funding from the charity Breast Cancer Campaign.
Dr Lorna Paul and Rebecca Marshall in the Division of Nursing & Healthcare, at the University of Glasgow, have been awarded a pilot grant worth more than £17,000 to establish whether a complementary therapy called myofascial release - a form of massage - can ease shoulder tightness and pain, a common side effect of radiotherapy.
One in three women with breast cancer experience pain or tightness in their shoulder or arm after radiotherapy which may reduce movement, preventing them from carrying out their usual daily activities and reducing their quality of life. Dr Paul and her colleagues will trial the use of myofascial release in a group of women to see if their symptoms can be alleviated.
It is the first complementary therapy project to receive funding from Breast Cancer Campaign, and was one of 26 grants made by the charity to scientists in the UK and Ireland, totalling £2.7 million.
Dr Paul said: “I am grateful to Breast Cancer Campaign for funding this work, particularly as it is the charity’s first grant to look at complementary therapy in breast cancer. Myofascial release is a well-practised and recognised physiotherapy treatment and with more and more women surviving breast cancer for longer it is vital that we are able to offer them a good quality of life.”
Arlene Wilkie, Director of Research and Policy, Breast Cancer Campaign, said: “Despite the unsteady economy, funding breast cancer research must remain a priority as more than 46,000 people are diagnosed with the disease in the UK each year and more than 12,500 will die.
“Research is already making a huge difference and we hope that by funding high quality, innovative projects such as Dr Paul’s it will bring us ever closer to beating breast cancer and finding ways to alleviate the debilitating side effects of some treatments.”
Dr Lorna Paul and Rebecca Marshall in the Division of Nursing & Healthcare, at the University of Glasgow, have been awarded a pilot grant worth more than £17,000 to establish whether a complementary therapy called myofascial release - a form of massage - can ease shoulder tightness and pain, a common side effect of radiotherapy.
One in three women with breast cancer experience pain or tightness in their shoulder or arm after radiotherapy which may reduce movement, preventing them from carrying out their usual daily activities and reducing their quality of life. Dr Paul and her colleagues will trial the use of myofascial release in a group of women to see if their symptoms can be alleviated.
It is the first complementary therapy project to receive funding from Breast Cancer Campaign, and was one of 26 grants made by the charity to scientists in the UK and Ireland, totalling £2.7 million.
Dr Paul said: “I am grateful to Breast Cancer Campaign for funding this work, particularly as it is the charity’s first grant to look at complementary therapy in breast cancer. Myofascial release is a well-practised and recognised physiotherapy treatment and with more and more women surviving breast cancer for longer it is vital that we are able to offer them a good quality of life.”
Arlene Wilkie, Director of Research and Policy, Breast Cancer Campaign, said: “Despite the unsteady economy, funding breast cancer research must remain a priority as more than 46,000 people are diagnosed with the disease in the UK each year and more than 12,500 will die.
“Research is already making a huge difference and we hope that by funding high quality, innovative projects such as Dr Paul’s it will bring us ever closer to beating breast cancer and finding ways to alleviate the debilitating side effects of some treatments.”
For more information contact Stuart Forsyth in the University of Glasgow Media Relations Office on 0141 330 4831 or s.forsyth@admin.gla.ac.uk
Breast Cancer Campaign aims to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure. Currently it supports 123 research projects, worth over £15 million, in 45 centres of excellence across the UK and Ireland. Further information at www.breastcancercampaign.org
First published: 19 March 2009
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