Dietetics at Heart of HRB Funded Cancer Study

A multidisciplinary team in St James's Hospital has been successful in securing funding from the Health Research Board for a 3 year rehabilitation programme in cancer survivors.

An allied health research team based in Trinity College Dublin and St James's Hospital were awarded 3 years of funding from the Health Research Board (HRB) for a study in cancer survivorship. The Rehabilitation Strategies following Oesophageal Cancer (ReStOre) trial will assess the rehabilitative needs of oesophageal cancer patients as they go through multimodal treatment and surgery. Changes in body composition, muscle strength, dietary intake and metabolism will be assessed throughout the course of treatment and this information will then be used to inform a multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme.

This rehabilitation programme will target the nutritional, physical, functional and psychological issues experienced by oesophageal cancer survivors with a primary aim of improving quality of life and functional performance in this cohort. This study will show for the first time how a rehabilitation programme involving exercise and dietary advice may help patient recovery in the early period following oesophageal cancer treatment and may be transferable to other complex cancer cohorts.

This multidiscilpinary research programme builds on the ongoing oesophageal cancer research at St. James's Hospital led by Professor John Reynolds. The team has input from dietetics (Dr. Suzanne Doyle), physiotherapy (Dr Emer Guinan), clinical science (Dr Jacintha O'Sullivan) and will be led by Professor Juliette Hussey (Associate Professor in the Discipline of Physiotherapy)

The HRB Health Research Awards were announced by Mr Leo Varadkar, Minister for Health on the 29th of October 2014. At the event were: Dr Suzanne Doyle Research Fellow Clinical Nutrition, Mr Graham Love, Chief Executive HRB, Mr Leo Varadkar, Minister for Health, Dr Juliette Hussey Principle Investigator and Dr Emer Guinan Research Fellow Physiotherapy.