CLINICAL RESEARCH IN SUPPORTIVE CARE FOR CANCER

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DESCRIPTION: (Applicant's Description) This Research Career Development Award application focuses on clinical investigation of approaches to supportive care in cancer. The specific aims are to: 1) enhance the development of the applicant's program of research in cancer supportive care; 2) contribute to the training of new clinical investigators in supportive care for cancer; and 3) build collaborative interdisciplinary research efforts in supportive care. The focus on supportive care for cancer builds on the applicant's extensive prior work, career goal of improving the care of people with cancer and at risk for cancer, and addresses important current concerns about the quality of cancer care. Recently, leading cancer care organizations have identified the need for research on symptom management, behavioral issues, psychosocial responses, and the experience of cancer survivorship. The pool of investigators conducting programs of clinical research in this area is limited and future progress is contingent upon devoting resources to research training and development. The applicant has a strong record of success in clinical research training, mentoring predoctoral and postdoctoral students through to the launch of their independent careers, conducting high quality clinical research in the area of supportive care for cancer, and establishing collaborative interdisciplinary relationships. The applicant's current work is on adjustment following cancer treatment (PI), fatigue management during treatment (coinvestigator), and factors related to uptake of colonoscopic screening and genetic testing among adults and children at high risk for colon cancer (K07 sponsor). A study proposed in this application is to examine relationships among perceived level of fatigue, hematologic changes in response to myelosuppressive chemotherapy, and other treatment side effects and symptoms. This study addresses an important gap in knowledge about factors contributing to perceptions of fatigue experienced by people undergoing active cancer treatment. This application takes advantage of new programmatic initiatives at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and coincides with the consolidation of clinical cancer care services at HCI.