Research Round-up

Look out …it’s a HOST SWAP! Previous guest, and former host of PC4’s other podcast ‘Cheers with Peers’; Sibel Saya took reign of the microphone in this episode of Research Round-up to interview our own PC4 National Manager Dr Kristi Milley. Kristi slid into the guest spotlight to answer questions about her most recent paper entitled “Look who's talking now: Cancer in primary care on Twitter. An observational study“. Kristi’s paper was published in BJGP Open.

Kristi and Sibel discuss how often health care professionals and researchers are in their own little ‘twitter bubble’ and the importance of collectively thinking about how they approach engaging with consumers using social media. Kristi went on to highlight how the complexity of cancer diagnosis and role of primary care can regularly be lost in the 280 characters of a tweet.

She hopes the results of this study open the door to investigating the role of twitter and other platforms in connecting health care professionals and researchers with the public and in turn the public with research, as well as the message of the importance of primary care right across the cancer continuum.

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Professor Yoryos Lyratzopoulos and Dr Monica Koo from University College London. Yoryos is Professor of Cancer Healthcare Epidemiology and leads the Epidemiology of Cancer Healthcare and Outcomes (ECHO) group and Monica is a post-doctoral research associate in the ECHO group.

They recently published a paper ‘The prevalence of chronic conditions in patients diagnosed with one of 29 common and rarer cancers: A cross-sectional study using primary care data’ in the journal Cancer Epidemiology.

Yoryos and Monica highlight that pre-existing morbidities influence the diagnosis and management of cancer and that the prevalence of specific morbidities in patients diagnosed with common and rarer cancers is not adequately described.They want listeners to be reminded of the interplay between chronic conditions and cancer, and to keep these realities in mind so they can be guided through prevention and more holistic management of patients once they present and are diagnosed with cancer.

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Saskia Maass and Dr Annette Berendsen from the University of Groningen in The Netherlands. Saskia is both a researcher and GP in training. Annette was the Program Leader of Oncology Research in Primary Care at the Department of General Practice at the University of Groningen. 

They recently published a paper in the journal “The Breast” entitled “Symptoms in long-term breast cancer survivors: A cross-sectional study in primary care”

Annette and Saskia highlight that GPs must realise that survivors of breast cancer may experience various long-term symptoms even 10 years after diagnosis. Some symptoms, such as concentration difficultly, forgetfulness and dizziness are significantly increased with a history of breast cancer therapy and while the reason behind these symptoms is not explicitly known – positive assurance and awareness that these symptoms are common among breast cancer survivors is beneficial.  They went on to suggest that for some patients cognitive training for the GP and a symptom-specific approach may be more appropriate.

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Dr Karolina Lisy a senior research fellow at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre as well as a member of PC4’s Early Career Research Network.

Karolina recently published a paper in the Journal of Clinical Medicine entitled “Sharing Cancer Survivorship Care between Oncology and Primary Care Providers: A Qualitative Study of Health Care Professionals’ Experiences”

Karolina emphasised current care for cancer survivors is falling short. We need to shift the model of care and ensure primary care is well represented within this model. Karolina highlighted that patients who receive follow up care from their GP are more satisfied, this form of care is often more convenient, cheaper for the health care system and addresses survivorship needs beyond surveillance. Overall, it is a more holistic approach to care.  Moving forward, Karolina hopes that this study will provide guidance on the best way forward.

Show notes are located here : http://pc4tg.com.au/research-round-up-november-2020-with-karolina-lisy/

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Dr Rebecca Bergin research fellow at the Cancer Council Victoria and member of PC4’s Early Researcher Career Network.

Rebecca recently published a paper in the journal of Cancer Policy entitled “Optimal care pathways: A national policy to improve quality of cancer care and address inequalities in cancer outcomes?"

Rebecca highlights that the OCPs specify the key features of cancer care across the whole pathway - from prevention to end of life.  Rebecca emphasises that primary care is an integral part of the OCPs and explains how they have had a unifying effect in Australia in establishing the best cancer care that all people should receive.

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Linda Denehy who is the Head of School and Professor of Physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne, School of Health Sciences as well as a Professor of Allied Health Research at Peter McCallum Cancer Centre.

Linda recently published a paper in the Australian Journal of General Practice entitled “'Probably better than any medication we can give you’: General practitioners’ views on exercise and nutrition in cancer"

Exercise and healthy eating patterns are effective in improving health-related quality of life for patients with cancer. However, there is limited data on the GPs’ views about providing exercise and nutrition recommendations to their cancer patients.

Linda highlights that physiotherapists intersect at every stage of cancer survivorship - each of which presents different exercise and nutrition needs. The paper looked at GPs experiences of providing nutrition exercise advice to their patients and what the barriers and enablers were for them to do this.

Reference:

Waterland, J. L., Edbrooke, L., Appathurai, A., Lawrance, N., Temple-Smith, M., & Denehy, L. (2020). 'Probably better than any medication we can give you': General practitioners' views on exercise and nutrition in cancer. Australian journal of general practice, 49(8), 513–518. https://doi.org/10.31128/AJGP-12-19-5176

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Sibel Saya who is a Genetic Counsellor and PhD student at University of Melbourne as well as a past host of PC4’s other podcast Cheers with Peers. 

Sibel recently published a paper in Public Health Genomics entitled “A Genomic Test for Colorectal Cancer Risk: Is This Acceptable and Feasible in Primary Care?” 

Genomic tests can predict risk and tailor screening recommendations for colorectal cancer and primary care could be suitable for their widespread implementation.

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Associate Professor Julia Brotherton who is Medical Director of the Victorian Cancer Service’s Population Health and a member of the WHO Director General's Expert Advisory Group on Cervical Cancer Elimination. Julia is the senior author on a new publication in Plos One titled - 'Implementation of Australia’s renewed cervical screening program: Preparedness of general practitioners and nurses'.

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Alison Beauchamp, Senior Lecturer in the School of Rural health at Monash University in Victoria about the recently published paper, ‘The impact of translated reminder letters and phone calls on mammography screening booking rates: Two randomised controlled trials’.

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Ruth Swann, Senior Cancer Information Analyst at Cancer Research UK and Public Health England about the recently published paper, ‘The frequency, nature and impact of GP-assessed avoidable delays in a population-based cohort of cancer patients’. Ruth talks about the English National Cancer Diagnosis Audit (NCDA) which looks at primary and secondary care data relating to patients diagnosed with cancer.