Living With Cancer Website Launched
Living with Liver Cancer
New website launched
University of Newcastle
The number of people affected by primary liver cancer has increased five-fold in North East England and Cumbria over the last 20 years. Information and support for those affected is variable.
Support and information about liver cancer
Living with Liver Cancer (LWLC) is a website that has been developed to help and support patients, (relatives and their carers), whether newly diagnosed or going through treatment. It has been created by leading clinicians and researchers and is maintained by Newcastle University, funded through a partnership with Cancer Research UK.
Holistic information
The quality of life and survival of patients with liver cancer depends on how advanced and aggressive the cancer is, as well as their physical and mental fitness. LWLC provides information from doctors and nurses, but also dieticians and physiotherapists to promote a healthy lifestyle. For mental wellbeing, LWLC also features interactive art and poetry, from patients affected by liver disease.
Quality of life
In the future LWLC will run online activities and workshops, but also support research exploring the feasibility of delivering exercise intervention programmes, tailored to individual patients in their own home. We hope that improved fitness will not only improve quality of life, but also lengthen survival and enable patients to undergo further treatments. We believe that improving and preserving fitness is incredibly important.
Professor Helen Reeves, who leads the clinical service for liver cancer patients in the North England and Cumbria comments: ”It is an extremely stressful time for patients and their close relatives when someone is diagnosed with liver cancer. This website has been created to help patients, but also aims provide access to a support network.”
“We want the Living with Liver Cancer website to be a place where our patients feel at home, can share their experiences and those of others, as well as provide feedback as how we can make “patient friendly” improvements to the web site platform.”
John Bedlington, Chairman of LIVErNORTH said, “As a national charity supporting liver patients, we fully understand the need for any additional support that can be provided for people living with cancer. Our Art and Poetry Workshop is just one instance of this extra support and the LWLC website will provide another much-needed resource. This initiative has our full support.”
Dr Emily Mavin of Newcastle University adds, ”The team who developed the website would like to hear from past or current patients who would like to become involved with the research work, share their experiences, highlight any concerns or contribute to the patient support network.”