The Lance Armstrong Foundation is set to fund research at the Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Tennessee, US, to see if regular exercise can alleviate the memory and cognitive problems that many cancer survivors experience following chemotherapy.

Commonly referred to as ‘chemo fog’ or ‘chemo brain’, this research will focus on whether these side effects of chemotherapy can be alleviated through a programme of regular exercise.

Charles Matthews, lead researcher for the project says: “A wealth of research now indicates that exercise participation preserves cognitive function as we age. We want to see if exercise can help cancer survivors in the same way.”

Vanderbilt University is one of 21 institutions in the US and Italy to receive cancer research grants from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Photograph: Casey Gibson (CSE)