Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/943527
50 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k m a r c h / a p r i l 2 0 1 8 In my years as a massage therapist, educator, and researcher, I've had many opportunities to see firsthand the power of massage for people with cancer. I marvel at, and am inspired by, the work leaders like Tracy Walton, Lauren Cates, and others bring to the massage field and seek them out whenever possible to update myself on the expanding evidence base in this area of our field. While not an expert in the subject of massage for cancer, I am happy to have this opportunity to share the results of the recently completed collaborative research efforts between Emory University's School of Medicine and the Atlanta School of Massage. There are over 15 million people in the United States today who have had cancer and received treatment for it. 1 Cancer survival rates are on the rise due to improved treatments, early diagnoses, and preventive care, and twice as many individuals living with a cancer history are expected within a generation. 2 In addition to strong funding for research focused on cancer-treatment efficacy and effectiveness, research examining posttreatment quality of life for cancer survivors is increasing. Cancer- related fatigue (CRF) is one of several conditions experienced by cancer survivors and is "a distressing, persistent, subjective sense of physical, emotional, and/ or cognitive tiredness or exhaustion related to cancer or cancer treatment … not proportional to recent activity and [which] interferes with usual functioning." 3 Experienced by approximately one-third of cancer survivors, CRF education SOMATIC RESEARCH Massage Reduces Cancer-Related Fatigue for Breast Cancer Survivors By Niki Munk, PhD