MySurvivorCare (MSC) Project

About MySurvivorCare (MSC) Project

Associate Professor Michelle Peate, in collaboration with consumer organisations, and researchers and clinicians at the Universities of Melbourne, Western Sydney, Western Australia, and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre are  developing this MySurvivorCare (MSC) web-based app to help women living with and beyond cancer manage their menopause symptoms after cancer treatment. MySurvivorCare (MSC) web-based app will offer personalised guidance on managing hot flushes and night sweats. Women living with and beyond canner can use the web-based app to assess their symptoms and based on the symptom impact, recommendations on how to manage symptoms will be provided.

Why the need to Improve Menopause after Cancer Care?

Cancer and its treatments can have enduring side effects affecting the quality of life (QoL) of women living with and beyond cancer. A common consequence of cancer treatment in women is menopause-affecting up to 40,000 Australian women living with and beyond the disease annually. Menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, and dryness of the vagina and vulva can have significant impacts on day-to-day living, with flow-on effects on the ability to work, financial hardship, social interactions, and mortality due to reduced adherence to cancer treatment. Although evidence-based interventions and clinical practice guidelines exist for managing these symptoms, evidence suggests that about 20-32% are offered treatment, and 26-60% have expressed unmet needs for information, self-management, non-medical interventions and specialist care. Therefore, novel approaches to manage menopause in women living with and beyond cancer, such as those incorporating assessment of symptoms and tailored or stepped approaches to treatment are needed to improve access to care and reduce these symptom burden.

Why is the  MySurvivorCare (MSC) web-based app needed?

A key challenge in translating research into practice is overcoming the barriers – competing clinical priorities, lack of time, and a lack of reliable ways to identify patients in need. Current services for women living with and beyond cancer  are fragmented and struggle to meet demand.

Evidence-based treatments exist for the management of the long-term side-effects of cancer treatment. However, there is no centralized platform to access these interventions, and no system to ensure women receive the appropriate level of care. Without intervention, women living with and beyond cancer could experience worse QoL, and, as side-effects can compromise adherence to therapy, potentially higher morbidity and mortality.

MySurvivorCare will be a central online web-based platform where women living with and beyond cancer to access interventions to manage their menopausal symptoms and other common and troublesome consequences of cancer treatment. The MSC web-based app would use a patient-driven stepped-care approach (i.e. women living with and beyond cancer lead the assessment of their symptom, based on the symptom impact, a hierarchy of interventions, from least to most intensive, will be matched to individual need and relies heavily on the woman being proactive in following recommendations provided).

This patient-driven model could reduce healthcare burden, while improving transparency, flow, and customization of healthcare delivery.

Menopausal symptoms are a common and often distressing consequence of cancer treatment for women, yet they are frequently under-recognised and under-treated. Symptoms such as hot flushes, sleep disturbance, mood changes, vaginal dryness, and pain can significantly affect quality of life. Many women report feeling unsupported in managing these issues, with limited access to evidence-based care—particularly in rural and remote areas.

The MySurvivorCare (MSC) project aims to address this gap by developing a patient-driven, stepped-care digital platform to support the management of menopausal symptoms after cancer. The platform will empower women to self-manage where appropriate, provide resources to share with their GP, and ensure timely referral to specialist care when needed.

The project is being delivered in four stages, moving from understanding the scope of the problem, to identifying barriers and enablers, through to co-designing and testing a digital tool that is practical, acceptable, and scalable.

Stage 1: Scoping Survey (Completed)

A scoping survey was conducted with female cancer survivors across tumour streams to assess prevalence, severity, bother, interference, and distress associated with menopausal symptoms (including vasomotor symptoms, mood disturbance, sleep disturbance, vulvovaginal dryness/irritation, pain during sex, and urinary discomfort). And menopause-related quality of life, symptom management, satisfaction with treatments, and unmet needs. Comparable data were collected across tumour streams using consistent PROMs, and outcomes were compared between MSAC (Menopause Symptoms After Cancer) clinic participants and community-based participants.

Stage 2: Barriers and Enablers Study (Completed)

A qualitative study explored the feasibility of a patient-driven stepped-care model through interviews with patients and clinicians (GPs, nurses, and specialists). Key insights included: Patients’ willingness to use the platform, share clinical guidelines with their GP, and recommend the platform to peers; Barriers and enablers to care, including access challenges for rural and remote populations; Clinicians’ openness to recommending the platform, accepting guidelines provided by patients, and engaging with referral pathways. Practical implementation strategies were identified to inform development of the severity-stratification tool, stepped-care model, and online platform.

Stage 3 – Co-Design and Prototype Development (In Progress)

A prototype of the MySurvivorCare (MSC) Web-based App is being co-designed using a participatory, iterative approach. The process involves designing the initial prototype based on findings from Stages 1 and 2 and ongoing refinement through focus group workshops with women living with and beyond cancer, healthcare professionals, researchers, and technical partners (designers/developers). This will result in a co-designed prototype app that is practical, user-friendly, and responsive to stakeholder needs, with feedback guiding refinement into a beta version of the platform.

Stage 4: Feasibility Testing and User Experience (Planned)

The MSC Beta Version will undergo a small RCT feasibility study. Participants will be allocated to tailored care options (e.g., online CBT, GP consultation with guidelines, or referral to specialist services). The primary hypothesis is that ≥80% of participants will comply with their allocated care pathway. We will also conduct a GP sub-study, these interviews will assess GP engagement, willingness to support platform use, and perceived barriers/enablers to delivering optimal guideline-based care. The aim is to collect evidence of feasibility, usability, and acceptability of the MSC platform among women with a history of breast cancer and their GPs. Also to collect preliminary data on health outcomes, including reduction of vasomotor symptoms (e.g., hot flushes, night sweats) and improved quality of life. Insights to guide the design and evaluation of a fully functional “live” MSC platform for future implementation.

Staff

A/Prof Michelle Peate - Program Leader, Psychosocial Health and Wellbeing (emPoWeR) Unit, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health

Prof Shanton Chang- Professor, School of Computing and Information Systems

Prof  Michael Jefford- Professor, Department of Health Services Research and the Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre, Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Prof Martha Hickey- Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health

Prof Christobel Saunder- Professor, Melbourne Medical School

Ms Dorcas Serwaa-PhD student, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health

Ms Nipuni Susanto- Senior Research Assistant, Psychosocial Health and Wellbeing (emPoWeR) Unit, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health

Mr Lewis Gauci, Medical Student, Rural Clinical School, Department of Rural Health, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne

Dr Digsu Koye, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

Collaborators

A/Prof Carolyn Ee, Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia and NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia

Prof Paul Cohen, Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical School, The University of Western Australia

Dr Jennifer Marino, Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Australia

Kate Rolshoven, Consumer Representative, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Women’s Hospital, University of Melbourne

Kate Keogh-Murray, Consumer Representative, Seat at the Table (SATT) program, Breast Cancer Network Australia

Consumer Advisory Group Members

Chairperson

• Stephanie Cooper

Deputy Chairperson

• Kate Rolshoven

Secretary

• Dorcas Serwaa

Core Advisory Members

• Christie Yu
• Jennifer Coffee
• Fenella Gesch
• Clare Plozza
• Kim Adams
• Milica Kokkinakis
• Sandey Fitzgerald
• Jackie Ohlin
• Glenys Davidson
• Kate Keogh-Murray
• Suzana Adin
• Stacey Allerton

Recruitment Organisations

• University of Melbourne
• Royal Women’s Hospital
• Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
• King Edward Memorial Hospital Menopausal Symptoms After Cancer Clinic
• Jean Hailes

Consumer Organisations

• Breast Cancer Network Australia
• Ovarian Cancer Network
• Pink Hope
• Myeloma Australia
• Pancare Foundation
• Sock it to Sarcoma
• NeuroEndocrine Cancer Australia
• Counterpart
• Leukemia Foundation

For more information about the study and to progress to the online survey, please click the: < Link >