During my studies, I was inspired by my lecturer’s passion for breast cancer research and knew I wanted to work with them for my undergraduate and Master’s projects.
Using the library’s extensive access to online scientific journals, I researched the literature surrounding breast cancer and exercise. I found that nobody had characterised the lasting effects of endurance and resistance exercise on the side effects of adjuvant therapy (such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy etc.), so I decided to undertake a research project to address this gap as my final year project. My research has now been published in the journal - Scientific Reports - an achievement I’m really proud of!
My findings revealed that combining these exercises can significantly improve fatigue in breast cancer patients – which is an important discovery given this side effect reportedly affects between 62% and 85% of patients undergoing treatment. I hope that my research will progress literature and help those undergoing aggressive cancer treatments to return to a functional lifestyle post-treatment as well as improve disease prognosis.