What we are funding

Short-term fasting-mimicking diets (FMD) have been shown to enhance the effects of chemotherapy while reducing the adverse effects for breast cancer tumours, but the mechanisms of this are not yet known.

This project will aim to understand the impact of FMD on the immune cells of the tumour and evaluate the impact of the FMD on survival, quality of life and cognition.

Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest forms of cancer, and there is evidence of a link between high fructose consumption and the risk of developing this cancer. This study will use mouse models to identify the processes linking fructose consumption and pancreatic cancer.

Long-term consumption of viruses or infectious molecules in bovine products may result in chronic inflammation in the colon, damaging the cells that may develop into tumour precursors.

This study will investigate how the viruses and molecules enter and persist in cells, which changes are induced and how this can be prevented to reduce cancer risk.

Sleep deficiency and fatigue affect up to two-thirds of colorectal cancer survivors and can persist for years. This pilot study will help quantify and understand how daily eating and physical behaviour patterns are associated with sleep quality, fatigue and inflammation over time.

This will help to develop intervention studies and eventually to empower fatigued colorectal cancer survivors.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors are at increased risk of hypertension, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and subsequently cardiovascular disease (CVD). This influences their quality of life and healthcare costs, and contributes to premature death.

However, no interventions exist that are specifically designed to help people with CRC who are at high risk of CVD to improve their physical activity, diet and sleep. The results of this study will help design an intervention to help solve these problems for this population.

Some breast cancer tumours can become resistant to chemotherapy treatment and it is unclear why a particular chemotherapy drug works better for one patient but not for others.

This study will identify chemotherapy pathways altered by nutrients in breast cancer to help develop a new prediction tool that can be used by doctors to select the best treatment for individual patients. This means that they would be able to identify patients who won’t respond to a particular drug.

Indigenous Australians have poorer cancer outcomes compared with non-Indigenous people. In Queensland, Indigenous health workers trained as Indigenous Patient Navigators (IPN) have been used to reduce cancer disparities through their understanding of cultural and practical issues facing Indigenous patients, addressing barriers, and streamlining care.

This study will find out whether having an IPN deliver a health behaviour intervention is feasible and acceptable to Indigenous cancer survivors.

Certain behaviours or risk factors are known to increase the chance of cancer developing. Current policies and campaigns aimed at reducing the number of people who will develop cancer have not used the most recent data on how common these behaviours are, and they have not estimated the future impact on the numbers of new cancers. This study will update the data to increase the relevance of the findings to worldwide cancer prevention activities.

A diet rich in polyphenols could help to prevent negative health consequences after breast cancer. This study will aim to find out whether a diet rich in polyphenols is related to better health among breast cancer survivors.

There is limited research on the role of nutrition and exercise interventions in blood cancers. This research project will test if providing a rehabilitation programme for people after bone marrow transplant improves outcomes for blood cancer patients.