Kea Turner awarded $1.4M DOD grant to study pancreatic cancer nutrition app

UNC School of Nursing associate professor Kea Turner, PhD, MPH, MA, has received a $1.4 million grant from the Department of Defense to evaluate a mobile app that helps people with pancreatic cancer and their dietitians exchange information about nutrition and symptoms during cancer treatment.

The project, “Community-Engaged Design and Evaluation of a mHealth App to Address Malnutrition Among Individuals with Pancreatic Cancer,” began Sept. 1.

People with pancreatic cancer often have difficulty getting enough nutrition from food to maintain their health. This condition, known as malnutrition, can affect how patients feel and their ability to tolerate treatment. It can also cause stress for caregivers. Nutrition counseling can help patients manage malnutrition, but access and quality vary across care settings.

The app, called mSTRONG, builds on the team’s Support Through Remote Observation and Nutrition Guidance intervention, which combines nutrition counseling with resources for patients, caregivers and dietitians. The app includes food and symptom logs, guidance on dosing pancreatic enzymes with meals, and symptom-based recipes.

Researchers will first test the app’s usability with 15 pancreatic cancer patients, caregivers and dietitians and refine it based on their feedback.

The study will then enroll 80 adults with pancreatic cancer who are starting treatment. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the app paired with nutrition counseling or printed materials paired with nutrition counseling. The intervention will take place during the first three months of treatment. Patients may invite a caregiver to participate.

The team will assess whether the approach is feasible to deliver, patient and caregiver satisfaction, and its potential effects on their outcomes. Researchers will measure patient quality of life, treatment tolerance and survival, as well as caregiver distress and quality of life. Assessments will take place at the start of the study and at three and six months.

The study team includes UNC School of Nursing staff members Emma Hume and Olivia Sprow; Brent Small, professor and senior associate dean for research at the School of Nursing; Ashwin Somasundaram, assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine’s Division of Oncology; and Amir Alishahi Tabriz and Shannon Christy of Moffitt Cancer Center’s Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior.

A community advisory board of cancer survivors, caregivers, oncology dietitians and clinicians will help guide the study.

Findings will support a future trial to test whether nutrition counseling paired with the app improves nutritional status more than counseling paired with printed educational materials.

---