International Study on Age-related disparity in Cancer patient survival

ended

Cancer patients are increasingly surviving their disease, but disparities in cancer outcomes still persist, and even widen, for some groups of patients. This is the case for older adults as they have not benefitted from the improvements in cancer diagnosis and treatment at the same magnitude as their middle-aged counterparts. Older adults account for the largest proportion of cancer diagnoses, and with the number of diagnoses expected to double in two decades such disparities will result in substantial amount of years of life lost due to unfair age-related disparities in cancer survival. The ISAC project thus aims to investigate the role of comorbidities and other factors in cancer survival disparities among older patients compared with younger patients, which will aid interventions to increase the probability of survival regardless of age. Dr Sophie Pilleron will have the opportunity to be trained at the highest possible level, extending her knowledge in comorbidities and health disparities research in the University of Otago, and her knowledge in colon and lung cancer in the THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. She will also extend her transferable skills (e.g. grant writing, oral communication, and student supervision), which are necessary for a successful career as an independent researcher. Finally, the results of the ISAC project will be disseminated and communicated to the scientific community, policy makers and the general public through a range of activities. For example, the findings of the project will be disseminated through high-impact publications and presentations at international conferences, and the Fellow will directly present her research to policy makers. She will also target non-specialists through media outlets, social networking services, online videos, or presentations at science festivals in order to facilitate the translation of the findings and their related implications to a non-scientific audience.