Abigail Rolbiecki, PhD, MPH, MSW, just learned that the Cancer Center is investing $75,000 in her research, which focuses on holistic, supportive care options for individuals living with cancer and their families. Specifically, these funds will support further exploration of virtual reality (VR) and neurofeedback (NF) as nonpharmacologic interventions to help manage cancer-related symptoms across the entire survivorship spectrum.
Cancer survivors often experience lasting physical and emotional impacts from both the disease and its treatments. For example, approximately 40% of adult cancer survivors—around 8 million people in the U.S.—live with chronic pain. As the cancer survivor population grows due to aging demographics, more cancer diagnoses, and improved treatments, the prevalence of chronic pain is expected to rise. While opioids are frequently prescribed during cancer treatment to manage pain, long-term opioid use poses risks, especially among survivors who are disease-free after completing treatment. In many cases, cancer survivors continue to manage their pain with their primary care physicians. However, the use of opioids and other pain management strategies in cancer survivorship requires careful attention, especially in primary care–where managing chronic pain and opioid misuse remains a challenge. This funding will allow Abigail to expand on her work with VR and NF in the outpatient infusion setting, specifically focusing on how these nonpharmacologic tools can be implemented by primary care physicians. By doing so, she aims to offer a sustainable solution for cancer survivors to manage pain and other symptoms effectively, without relying on long-term opioid use.