About Cancer Related Fatigue
The European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) has produced a working definition of CRF, describing it as “a subjective feeling of tiredness, weakness or lack of energy”. CRF stands out from regular fatigue in its erratic onset and prolonged recovery periods. It has a co-morbidity with depression and anxiety of 30%. The US National Institutes of Health has identified treatment of CRF as a priority for advancing the care of cancer patients.
Many millions of (former) cancer patients suffer from CRF. Over 2 million European cancer patients (>50%) experience crippling fatigue as side effect of their illness and the onerous treatments involved. In 30% of cancer survivors severe fatigue persists for up to ten years and has a considerable impact on a patient's life. These numbers are expected to increase in the next decades as the number of people surviving cancer is increasing.
Mission Tired of Cancer BV
Tired of Cancer’s mission is to deliver an effective self-management tool for Cancer-Related Fatigue (CRF) and increase of quality of life (QoL) of all cancer patients that feel fatigued, independent the type of cancer or their prognosis. Tired of Cancer’s digital medicine, the Untire app is positioned to reach millions of clinically fatigued cancer patients. This project –mPOWER – is geared towards the commercialization of our therapy-in-an-app to realize our envisioned impact on Europe and on the rest of the world.
Insights gained in decades of academic research by the world leading Helen Dowling Institute for psycho-oncology have proven to be directly portable to effective online treatment protocols. At Tired of Cancer, we are driven by increase the reach of this therapy for CRF
Overall objectives mPower
Untire has three elements to generate fast growth and to address the problem of cancer related fatigue.
1. Untire will be proven effective.
2. Untire is easily accessible for any end user with a smartphone or tablet
3. The tool will be integrated into clinical practice to provide specialists with treatments
Within mPOWER, Tired of Cancer sets out to finalize the transformation of cognitive behavioural therapy (current best practice) into Untire and implement a market launch in major markets in Europe. We have identified four specific objectives in the route to a successful market entry. The main objectives are:
(1) to perform a clinical validation study – corroborating the efficacy shown in other studies
(2) to innovate Untire to personalized clinical implementation of the digital tool
(3) to pilot and implement four business models
(4) to launch Untire in Europe (Spain, Germany, and UK)
Conclusion of the action:
At the end of the mPOWER period we have made important steps towards Tired of Cancer’s mission; to help as many cancer patients as possible worldwide improve their energy levels and regain their quality of life.
We gained substantial knowledge about implementing a digital therapeutic tool in various languages and various markets. With hindsight we can say that developing, doing research, translating and implementing into various countries is maybe too ambitious (considering budget and timeframe). Also considering that the world of digital therapeutic is changing all the time, as it’s not mature yet. We know from our fast-growing network that all similar projects meet the same challenges.
We reached almost all of the goals of mPOWER and more important; we have grown from a startup into a scale up business able to attract important partners for a sustainable future and make impact in the lives of cancer patients struggling with cancer related fatigue.
