REACH - Research in Exercise And Cancer Health

Keith is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Kinesiology & Biology at Loras College. He is also the Director of the Loras Cancer Research & Exercise Science Laboratory (CARES Lab), where his research agenda focuses globally on the role of physical activity and sedentary behavior on health outcomes specific to cancer survivorship. In this episode we chat about the details of the exercise oncology twitter conference this October, including dates, how to's and participation information!

Follow Keith on Twitter @KTB_PhD

For more information on the exercise oncology conference, check out www.exonctc.com or @ExOncTc on twitter

Anna Campbell is a senior lecturer at Edinburg Napier University and the founder of CanRehab, a company that provides education and training for health and fitness professionals interested in exercise oncology. 

In this episode, I chat to Tormod about some of his groups work in resistance exercise and prostate cancer.

We also chat about how we can do a better job of reporting our exercise trials, particularly in regards to modified sessions, where participants don't reach the desired dose or intensity of exercise. This is a really important area that will strength the impact of our research. 

Check out Tormod on twitter @TSNils

Some of Tormods publications we talked about:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25927504

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29315168

Cancer doesn't just affect the person diagnosed; it can affect the whole family. In this episode, Tori and Khara offer incredible insight into what it's like to be a primary caregiver for someone diagnosed with cancer. Moreover, Tori and Khara both lost their mothers to breast and ovarian cancer, respectively, while both women were in college. We chat about this experience to lose a parent at such a young age, going through that grieving process and how that experience has given both women purpose to pursue fields in oncology. 

In this episode, myself, Mark and Chris chat about everything from the patient perspective on cancer care and the transition to survivorship, to factors such as environmental layout and technological advances that influence healthy behaviours. 

Ken Martin was diagnosed with two different types of cancer (Lymphomas: Follicular Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma; Hodgkin’s Lymphoma; and Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma). An avid endurance athlete, Ken (having read research that demonstrated exercise could help during chemotherapy), convinced his physicians to let him bring his stationary bike into the chemo ward to exercise during chemotherapy. 

We chat about how and why Ken decided to do this, along with how it was received by the medical staff. 

Tarina was diagnosed with Terminal Cancer three years ago at the age of 31. In this episode, we chat about the challenges of living with a terminal diagnosis at such a young age. 

  Liz is a breast cancer surgeon located in England. In 2015, she was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer at the age of 40. In this episode, we chat about how Liz’s diagnosis not only changed her life, but how she speaks to and treats her patients.    This was a great chat about how Liz balanced being a doctor and patient, while also training for a triathlon during treatment!

Anna Beery is a registered dietitian working in radiation oncology at Ohio State University. The majority of Anna’s patients are head and neck (HNC) cancer patients. The treatment for HNC presents some unique challenges: with radiation affecting the swallowing muscles, making swallowing painful and difficult. Taste changes also make a lot of food unpalatable. The result of this is that HNC patients experience dramatic weight loss, particularly with muscle mass, with a profound impact on prognosis and quality of life.

In this episode, we chat about how Anna and the RD’s at OSU use nutrition to try and prevent some of these changes, along with the difficulties of working with patients undergoing treatment. A fascinating chat for me, I hope you enjoy it!

Dr. Prue Cormie has been one of the leaders in the field of exercise oncology for many years now. She has carried out a wealth of research looking at how exercise can improve physical and mental health in individuals with cancer both during and after treatment. 

In this episode, we chat about how exercise (particularly higher levels) are linked to increased survival in cancer survivors. We also chat about EX-MED Cancer, a program that Prue has rolled out in Melbourne, Australia. EX-MED is a free community based exercise program for cancer survivors that is grounded in the latest scientific evidence. EX-MED also looks to become the gold standard of education for professionals as they provide webinars and continuing education for people working in this area. 

For more on EX-MED, visit http://www.exmedcancer.org.au/ and keep up with Prue on twitter @pruecormie