Living with and beyond cancer – National Cancer Survivors Day 2024
To mark Cancer Survivors Day 2024 last month (2 June 2024), the project managers in our Living With and Beyond Cancer (LWBC) theme have reflected on how their vital work has moved forward in the past 12 months, for the benefit of people living with and beyond cancer regionally and nationally.
There is so much to say following on from our 2023 blog, so this year we have decided to focus on 2 areas. They are funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Both are looking at how radiotherapy can affect people after their treatment for cancer has finished.
Firstly, we will focus on a study to improve screening for patients who have a higher risk of developing breast cancer in later life, through the eyes of one of our research project managers. We will also find out more about what taking part in research has meant to a patient involved in a study to understand how undergoing radiotherapy has affected their bones.
Why screening is important for cancer survivors
Dr Joanna Williams, Senior Project Manager at The University of Manchester (UoM) and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, (pictured) shares her insights into why screening is important for cancer survivors.
Joanna works for the Cancer Recurrence and Second Cancers programme within the LWBC Theme.
Radiotherapy treatment for cancer can raise the risk of having a second cancer later in life. Management of this risk involves cancer survivors being offered regular screening to find these second cancers as early as possible. The Breast screening After Radiotherapy Dataset (BARD) project does just this. It is a leading example of surveillance of a higher risk patient group.
BARD is helping to manage risk for female former patients who had radiotherapy to breast tissue when they were young (usually as treatment for lymphoma). A higher risk of breast cancer is a known late effect of this treatment. I have worked on the BARD project for the past 6 years. During that time, it has been a privilege to work with the project team and witness the difference BARD has made.
In my role, I work on the process of finding at-risk patients and making sure they’re referred for breast screening at the correct time. This process uses data from across England for direct patient care. This is a new area of work. We collect cancer diagnosis and treatment data from many different national systems. We compare the information to find at-risk patients and work out when their screening should take place. We then refer each patient to the NHS Breast Screening Programme to make a screening appointment.
The impact of BARD has been very positive. Making a single national list of at-risk patients has led to BARD referrals being included in national guidelines. This has streamlined breast screening referrals for this at-risk patient population. Patients are now being offered what may be life-saving breast screening through the NHS. The success of BARD across England is a huge team achievement. I am extremely lucky to have been part of this project and excited to take it further in the future.
Like so many people, cancer has, and continues to, affect my family and friends. Working on the BARD project is important to me as it’s making a real difference to cancer survivors.
Offering hope for early diagnosis and successful treatment, and the chance to enjoy life to the full. This is a huge motivation for me. Through speaking with BARD patients, it’s clear that the work of this project is highly valued. Have you attended your breast screening appointment? It may make all the difference.
Taking part in bone health research
A cancer survivor perspective – as told to Dr Louise James, Senior Research Project Manager for Manchester BRC’s LWBC Theme.
We know that cancer treatments like radiotherapy can also affect bones. Our NIHR Manchester BRC funded work is looking at bone health and trying to understand the risk of fractures (breaks in bones). The aim is to find groups of patients who are at most risk, to understand why they are at risk and to find treatments that can help make the bones healthier and stop fractures from happening.
One patient who has shared their story with us was treated with chemotherapy and 6 weeks of daily radiotherapy for anal cancer in 2022. They said: “People don’t realise, it’s the aftereffects of the treatment that are the problem, it’s not discussed as it’s supposed to be. I wasn’t expecting it and it floored me.” After treatment they found their concentration was badly affected: “You can’t focus, your head is like mush”. They were also low in mood; “I was depressed, I just felt very alone.”
As part of the research, initially funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), their bone health was monitored, and a bone fracture was detected. As it had been found, it was possible to offer some simple treatments to help treat the break, which has now healed. It’s taken 19 months, but they have now been able to start to exercise again.
They also decided to take part in research to help others, saying:
I am a great believer that when you do something good for others it will come back to you in the end. I want to help other people to the best of my ability.
It’s great to hear that they have also found benefits to helping with research, explaining: “You discover that you are not on your own and that other people have gone through what you are going through. The more people talk about it the better. It’s so important to educate people, even the professionals.”
The patient added: “Some people don’t like to talk about their illness but if you are open about it, it gets passed on and you get to help other people, which is great.”
This study will help us understand the development of bone fractures after radiotherapy treatment and is part of developing a larger package of BRC-funded research into bone health in Oncology patients including the Bone health in Oncology Dataset (BOnD) which is aiming to collect bone health related information in patients attending the metabolic bone clinic at The Christie to help us to understand better why some patients are at risk of breaking a bone after their treatment and guide future treatments and research. The BOnD study is set to begin to collect data this summer.
On Cancer Survivors Day, we celebrate these achievements and look forward to sharing more stories of how our research is helping those living beyond a cancer diagnosis.