ACU collaborations to deliver better outcomes for breast cancer patients and maths students

Reflecting the Catholic Church’s longstanding commitment to providing outstanding health care and education, experts at Australian Catholic University (ACU) continue to pursue fruitful collaborations—with other Catholic organisations, as well as with government and colleagues at other universities—to deliver better outcomes in education and health. Two recent ACU projects, for instance, offer greater quality of life for breast cancer patients and improved outcomes for maths students.

Less pain and more to gain for patients with metastatic breast cancer who exercise

Structured exercise can improve quality of life and reduce side effects, such as fatigue and pain, in patients with metastatic breast cancer, according to new global research published in Nature Medicine today.

ACU’s Dr Eva Zopf, from the Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, led the study in Australia in collaboration with Cabrini Health, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Melbourne Health.

It found supervised exercise during palliative treatment for metastatic breast cancer had significant beneficial effects on patients’ fatigue, quality of life and common side-effects such as pain and shortness of breath.

It is the first large-scale study to investigate the effects of exercise in this patient population and builds on a growing body of research showing that exercise can be a valuable companion to cancer treatment.

Dr Zopf said breast cancer treatment has a devastating effect on people’s lives, causing serious health issues that compromise physical and mental wellbeing, including fatigue, nausea, pain and shortness of breath.

She said patients with metastatic disease experience significant symptoms as they often undergo continuous treatment, and improving their quality of life is important.

‘Previous research has primarily looked at the effects of exercise programs on patients with less advanced cancer and found it was beneficial—especially boosting patient’s energy levels and improving their quality of life—but patients with metastatic disease had not been rigorously studied to see if they experienced the same benefits,’ Dr Zopf said.

The PREFERABLE-EFFECT trial involved 357 patients with metastatic breast cancer from Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Poland and Sweden.

All study participants received a physical activity tracker and generic exercise advice, but 178 patients were randomly assigned to a supervised exercise program for nine months involving balance, resistance and aerobic exercises.

The first six months included two one-hour supervised exercise sessions per week. In the last three months, one supervised session was replaced by an unsupervised exercise session, which was supported by an exercise app. Patients exercised at moderate to high intensity levels under the supervision of qualified exercise physiologists.

‘Patients have told us that they not only felt better and stronger being part of the trial but also that it helped them better understand what they need to be doing in terms of exercise,’ Dr Zopf said.

Study co-author and clinical co-lead of Breast Medical Oncology at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Prof Prue Francis said regular exercise is commonly recommended for patients diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.

‘This important randomised trial has found that regular supervised exercise also significantly reduces fatigue and improves quality of life in patients with metastatic breast cancer. In addition, beneficial effects in physical functioning and pain were seen with exercise.’

Researchers have now called for supervised resistance and aerobic exercise to be routinely prescribed to patients with metastatic breast cancer as a part of supportive cancer care.

Cancer affects one in two Australians, with one diagnosed every four minutes. Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in the world, yet the vast majority of those diagnosed do not meet the current exercise guidelines for cancer patients during and after their treatment.

Dr Zopf said every one of those patients would benefit from exercise.

The international study was led by Prof Anne May from the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care at the University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Funding for this study was provided by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, and by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.

Videos to help teachers boost students’ mathematics outcomes

ACU mathematics education experts have developed a set of resources to strengthen teachers’ capability to interpret and use assessment data to improve student outcomes.

The team has developed 12 publicly available videos to boost teachers’ analysis of student results from the ACU-designed Mathematics Online Interview (MOI) and Fractions and Decimals Online Interview (FDOI).

ACU Prof Tracey Muir, who led the project, said the guidance videos were designed to help teachers to better interpret student results and identify gaps in learning to target the needs of individual students.

‘Effective use of qualitative and quantitative data helps teachers understand which students are progressing at an appropriate level in response to the teaching approaches in their classroom, and how they could best adjust their practice to drive improvement for all students in their class,’ she said.

‘These ACU-online assessment interviews provide teachers with rich diagnostic data to monitor growth points in a students’ mathematical learning journey, identify learning gaps, and inform lesson planning and teacher practice.

‘The guidance videos now also offer educators targeted and effective advice and examples to help them identify their students’ mathematical understandings and misconceptions as they progress along the learning trajectory.’

The short videos—created in partnership with the Victorian Department of Education as part of a $110,000 project—cover topics across the primary and secondary mathematics curriculum, including ordering and comparing decimals, exploring and extending number lines, addition and subtraction, understanding fraction sizes, and how to unpack student growth points and track individual and whole-class progress.

In addition to Prof Muir, the team behind the videos included ACU mathematics education experts Dr Matt Sexton and Dr Linda Parish, of ACU’s School of Education, and Prof Vince Geiger, of ACU’s Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education.

ACU Emeritus Prof Doug Clarke and former ACU, now Monash-based, academic Ms Anne Roche, who were both part of the ACU-led research team behind the creation of the MOI and FDOI, also played a key role in creating the videos to upskill educators.

Prof Clarke said the MOI and FDOI connections to student growth points and overarching ideas provided busy teachers with a way to understand, assess and develop the mathematical thinking of their students.

‘The videos provide further support by answering questions such as: Why are one-to-one assessments the most powerful form of assessment in maths? Why these particular assessment tasks? What are typical student responses and common misconceptions? Having conducted the interviews with my students, how do I take what I’ve learnt to inform my planning and teaching?’ he said.

Prof Muir said while the MOI and FDOI online interviews were used by Victorian teachers, the guidance videos supported teachers nationally to better teach, assess and support their students.

‘The bottom line is we want to improve students’ mathematical outcomes, and these videos are a key part of empowering our teachers to know what to look for and what to do to improve their students’ mathematical skills, knowledge and understandings.’