Partnership with The Prostate Cancer Charity
Men with prostate cancer who experience fatigue as a result of treatment for prostate cancer will soon be given greater support to help them cope as a result of a government grant awarded to King’s College London and The Prostate Cancer Charity.
Fatigue can be a common side effect of cancer treatment. In fact, research from the Charity shows that 70 per cent of men on hormone therapy, a common treatment for the disease, experience a level of fatigue which has a severe impact on their quality of life.
The Knowledge Transfer Partnership grant will allow the Charity to establish a specialist telephone support service to help men and their families affected by prostate cancer to cope with fatigue. Callers to The Prostate Cancer Charity’s Helpline who report experiencing problems with exhaustion or tiredness will be offered the new service, delivered by a dedicated specialist nurse who has been trained by experts at King’s. They will provide a programme of information and guidance sessions by telephone to help men combat fatigue.
Overseeing the project from the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery at King’s will be Professor Emma Ream and Dr Jo Armes and their internationally acclaimed research team, who will use their academic knowledge of cancer related fatigue to advise the Charity.
Professor Ream explains: ‘We have spent many years looking at the impact that tiredness and fatigue can have on people receiving treatment for cancer and The Knowledge Transfer Partnership is a fantastic way for us to share what we know with others working directly with those affected. We have worked with The Prostate Cancer Charity on a number of smaller research projects in the past and we are looking forward to being able to work with them on a much larger project, which will have benefit to men and their families affected by prostate cancer.’
Following the two-year grant, the Charity aims to become a lead organisation in adopting this intervention technique and results of the Knowledge Transfer Partnership will be shared with other cancer charities and NHS to benefit other cancer patients.
The Prostate Cancer Charity's Head of Services, Sarah Porch, said: ‘We are thrilled to be entering this partnership with King's College London. We know from our own research that men with prostate cancer report fatigue and that it has a profound and severe impact on their lives. It is vital that we are equipped with the knowledge and skills to help them with such a debilitating side effect. Through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership we will be able to put into practice the expertise of those at King’s to ensure that men experiencing fatigue are offered an effective intervention to improve their quality of life. We eagerly await the results of the partnership and look forward to working closely with some of the leading academics in this field.’