2ⁿᵈ Edition of the Cancer R&D World Conference 2026

Abstract

The results from research from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in 2004 pre and post massage therapy, show an average reduction of pain, fatigue, stress/anxiety, nausea & depression by an average of 50%.   This was taken from a sample of 1290 patients.  Benefits persisted, with outpatients experiencing no return toward baseline scores throughout the duration of 48-hour follow-up. The data indicates that massage therapy is associated with substantive improvement in cancer patients' symptom scores.

Our anecdotal experience is that Oncology Massage (‘OM’) not only improves the wellbeing of patients through the reduction of treatment side effects, but we also support nurses and clinicians by calming the general angst in patients who are confronted by challenging procedures and the ramifications of a life changing illness.  
From 2009 to 2018 Oncology Massage in Australia was taught to experienced / selected therapists in the Sydney Adventist Hospital and the Olivia Newton John Cancer Research and Wellness Centre, part of The Austin Hospital. Therapists massaged cancer patients from diagnosis, through all forms of treatment, in oncology wards and palliative care. At the conclusion of the first training program a therapist was employed, part-time and salaried, by both hospitals. These services have been sustained with an increasing number of OM trained therapists employed by cancer centres around the country.

OMG training programs meet clinical standards and ethics requirements of major cancer hospitals.  Sadly, the in-hospital training came to a halt in 2018 when it became a requirement that our training organisation become a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).  This is a financial impossibility for our niche area of expertise. We will never return the funds required to be an RTO.   Ironically, hospitals are still seeking appropriately trained therapists for employed positions, and we are having to seek alternative ways to train them. 

Moreover, research is not funded except by therapists who, if not hands-on, are without income.  

A scoping study conducted in 2018, at the University of Western Sydney by Eleanor Oyston et al, shows that in Australian clinical cancer environments offering Complementary Therapies, 72% of patients want massage by appropriately trained therapists.  

Research continues at the Chris O’Brian Lifehouse in Sydney with a white paper released in 2024, and in 2019 Distinguished Prof Jon Adams (University of Technology Sydney) selected Eleanor Oyston into a Complementary & Integrative Medicine  international leadership cohort. 

In 2017 OMG began teaching in Barcelona, Spain, then in Argentina. Due to COVID 19 in 2019 we developed a bilingual on-line program that has developed into the only recognised on-line OM training program by the Society for OM, USA. This is a major international achievement for OMG.  

Teaching OM globally for 8 years means we have many ideas, challenges and inspiring successes. Your conference provides an opportunity to share them with our global community.