Massage is one of the most effective forms of supportive care in cancer, but access to professional practitioners is limited for most patients. In this interview Tracy will talk about reports findings from an NCI-sponsored randomized controlled trial of family caregivers guided by a home-based multimedia instructional program to use simple techniques of touch and massage as supportive care. The project assessed effects of the intervention on (1) symptoms and side effects, (2) quality of life, and (3) caregiver attitudes toward use of touch in the caregiving relationship at home. Tracy will talk about the curriculum design for caregiver massage and the belief that massage is contraindicated for people with cancer.

Tracy Walton, LMT, MS, is a researcher and educator in massage and cancer care.  She has worked in private practice, hospital and spa settings since 1990. She is the author of a textbook, Medical Conditions and Massage Therapy:  a Decision Tree Approach (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2010).   Her column on cancer and massage appears regularly in Massage Today.As a researcher, Tracy has concentrated her work on massage therapy and cancer, including NIH (National Cancer Institute) funded clinical trials involving massage by caregivers.  Research partners include the Osher Institute at Harvard Medical School, Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, and Collinge and Associates.  She maintains a bibliography of massage and cancer research on her website.Tracy helped develop the award-winning film, “Touch, Caring, and Cancer,” massage instruction for caregivers and partners.  She is on the review board of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, and is a frequent contributor to massage therapy publications.  Best known for her leadership and instruction in oncology massage therapy, Tracy teaches “Caring for Clients with Cancer,” an intensive course, and several advanced courses.  She also taught physiology and pathology at the Muscular Therapy Institute (now Cortiva Institute) in Cambridge, MA for 13 years.  There, she chaired the science department and served as Academic Dean.  As an educator, she integrates the art, heart, and science of massage therapy.  In her classroom, Tracy warmly welcomes and reaches massage therapists from all levels of training.  In 2003, the AMTA named her the Teacher of the Year.Tracy holds a master’s degree in biological sciences, with a concentration in biochemistry and cellular physiology.  She received her diploma in therapeutic massage from the Muscular Therapy Institute.