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Helping researchers find suitable people for their projects is what the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s online community, Register4 is all about. Delivering on its promise to help researchers to find a cure, the National Breast Cancer Foundation has created an online community which is now more than 29,000 members strong.
Breast cancer is still the most common cancer affecting Australian women. One in nine will develop it in their lifetime and anyone of us could hold the key to a breast cancer breakthrough.
But it can take years for breast cancer researchers to find the right people to participate in a research study. Register4 was created to help fast track this process and make research happen faster.
Through Register4, days rather than years could be all it takes for researchers to find suitable study participants. The implications for finding more answers to breast cancer are enormous.
An example of Register4 in action is a project led by Professor Sharon Kilbreath from the University of Sydney called, ‘Physical well-being for women with metastatic breast cancer’. The first arm of recruitment for this project occurred within just a few hours of Register4 sending out an email invitation to members. The minimum number of women living with advanced breast cancer needed for the study was recruited within just twelve hours.
“Through Register4 we were able to access a broader population. It would have taken us about a year to find the people Register4 found in a day,” said Professor Kilbreath. “We hope results of the study will assist in the development of guidelines regarding physical activity and exercise for all women living with breast cancer, including those with metastatic disease.”
Professor Kilbreath and her team are exploring the relationship between symptoms experienced by women living with advanced breast cancer and their levels of daily physical activity, aerobic fitness and muscle strength. Results of this research will be fed back to the Register4 community for the benefit of all.
The types of research projects on Register4 can be as simple as filling in a questionnaire, to something more involved such as providing a blood sample. Whatever projects you decide to participate in, as a member of Register4, the choice is always yours.
No matter who you are, Register4 needs you. There’s already a project waiting for every new member of Register4 – the Baseline Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire. Information from this project will help researchers look at potential links between breast cancer and factors such as lifestyle and genetics.
For more information visit www.register4.org.au to see how you can take an active role in Australian medical research.