The Minns Labor Government has awarded funding to a Newcastle-based researcher focussed on improving outcomes for regional and rural cancer patients as part of a $10 million boost to cancer research across NSW.
The 18 grants, delivered by the Cancer Institute NSW, include $798,790 to the University of Newcastle's Dr Jennifer Mackney to improve patient access to prehabilitation services in rural and regional NSW.
Surgery is essential in cancer care. In 2024 approximately 165,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in Australia, around 132,000 of these people will need surgery, often multiple times.
Greater physical fitness and wellbeing is associated with better cancer surgery outcomes. However, the impact of cancer and associated treatments reduces physical activity, nutrition, and fitness resulting in an increased risk of poor cancer outcomes.
The pre-surgery program developed by Dr Mackney will help overcome this via exercise, nutrition and psychological support which has been shown to dramatically improve patients' physical function, reduce complications and time in hospital post-op.
The hybrid model of care will be delivered by health providers via in-person care within the participant communities, along with a telehealth team based out of Newcastle.
The grant will enable Dr Mackney to extend access to the prehabilitation program for cancer patients across five regional and rural hospitals, three in the Hunter New England LHD and two in the Mid North Coast LHD.
The NSW Government, through the Cancer Institute NSW, is one of the largest funders of cancer research in NSW, having invested more than $470 million in the past 20 years across nearly 1,000 competitive research awards and grants.
This year's grants cover four categories, with Dr Mackney one of two Accelerated Research Implementation Grant recipients totalling almost $1.6 million to support teams to rapidly transition research into clinical practice to improve cancer care in regional and rural NSW.
The category's other recipient is a program to reduce the incidence and increase survival of anal cancer of people with HIV in the regions run by Associate Professor Vincent Cornelisse from the University of New South Wales.
The other three categories comprise:
- 11 Early Career Fellowships
- 3 Career Development Fellowships
- 2 Aboriginal Cancer Research Grants.
To view all 2024/2025 Cancer Institute NSW grants recipients go here: https://www.cancer.nsw.gov.au/research-and-data/grants/grants-we-ve-funded
Minister for Medical Research David Harris said:
"Ensuring patients in our regional and rural communities receive better access to medical care is a priority of the Minns Labor Government and programs funded by the Cancer Institute NSW grants are helping achieve this.
"The NSW Government is proud to be supporting researchers and projects designed to reduce the impact of cancer and save lives.
"Our researchers strive every day to improve the lives of people in NSW and across the world, and we're proud to invest in them to continue their work and help improve cancer outcomes for all.
"We're committed to doing what is needed to prevent cancer, improve access to care and support our expert clinicians and researchers to make the discoveries needed to save lives."
NSW Chief Cancer Officer and CEO Cancer Institute NSW Professor Tracey O'Brien AM said:
"Our dedicated and inspirational cancer researchers are key to improving our understanding of a disease which touches the lives of so many of us.
"While significant progress has been made in understanding and treating cancer, it remains the leading cause of death in NSW with sadly one in two people being diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime.
"NSW is recognised as a global leader in tackling cancer with people, communities and organisations coming together to support all people impacted by cancer and help rewrite the future of cancer."
Accelerated Research Grant recipient Dr Jennifer Mackney said:
"Prehabilitation before cancer surgery - including exercise, nutritional optimisation, and psychological support - has been shown to improve physical function, halve postoperative pulmonary complications, and reduce postoperative hospital length of stay.
"A model of care for the delivery of prehabilitation using in-person and telehealth intervention has been developed in Newcastle over the past five years and utilised clinically. However, currently rural and regional patients don't have equitable access to formal prehabilitation programs.
"The grant awarded to our team by Cancer Institute NSW will enable us to extend this work to improve access to multimodal prehabilitation services for cancer patients across five regional and rural hospitals in NSW."
