Donor Funding: $75,000
Cancer Type: All Cancers
Cancer Stage: Treatment
Funded in: 2018, 2019, 2020
Professor Ian Olver
University of South Australia
Just over 50% of patients diagnosed with cancer will receive chemotherapy some time throughout their cancer journey and of these 7 in 10 will experience nausea as a side effect of the drug treatment.
Nausea, is one of the top 10 most disturbing side effects reported because it does not respond as well to medication which controls vomiting. We will develop an electronic patient reported outcome (ePRO) tool; a self-report survey for patients to communicate new nausea symptoms to their doctors using an ‘App’. We have already done research that nausea is a cluster of symptoms so we want to find out for each patient what those symptoms are so we can better target the treatment.
If successful we will be able to successfully treat the nausea experience by patients when they have drug therapy and stop it becoming a persistent symptom triggered by sights and smells associated with receiving chemotherapy
The next step is what is known as a psychometric evaluation of the nausea App which involves gathering information about the tool from a larger groups of patients who have experienced nausea and also finding what makes a patient more at risk of developing nausea to see if it can be prevented. Finally the effectiveness of the App is tested.
What motivates me
I am a medical oncologist who treated people with cancer for 30 years and understand some of the unresolved symptoms and side effects that they face . I simply want to contribute to resolving some of these sources of distress to improve the quality of life of patients with cancer, while receiving treatment and beyond.
My message to supporters
After creating the App for patients to report nausea, to be treated promptly and effectively, it will be tested for its effectiveness then can be used in routine clinical practice. This will require further funding.