Muscle mass and long-term health after cancer
Official title: Ms. LILAC: Muscle Mass in the Life and Longevity After Cancer (LILAC) Study
Funded at State University of New York at Buffalo · NIH-11512835 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Measuring muscle size and how it links to walking, balance, and strength in older women who survived cancer compared with women without cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R37 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | State University of New York at Buffalo NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Amherst, United States) |
| Project start | March 9, 2022 |
| Project end | February 28, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $57,780 |
| NIH project number | 3R37CA258761-05S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11512835 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative, especially those who previously had cancer.
✕Less likely to help
Men, younger women, and people not enrolled in the WHI are unlikely to be included or directly benefit from this specific project.
What this research studies
This project uses a safe D3-creatine test that can be done remotely to get a direct measure of muscle mass. It compares about 3,044 cancer survivors with 3,570 cancer-free participants from the Women’s Health Initiative, a large group of postmenopausal women followed for decades. The team will link muscle mass to measures like gait speed, balance, strength, and daily activities to see how cancer and aging each matter. They will also use big-data and machine-learning methods to find factors that predict low muscle mass over the long term.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help identify who is at higher risk of muscle loss after cancer so doctors can target tests or therapies earlier.
How similar studies have gone: The D3-creatine dilution method is already validated for measuring muscle mass, but applying it at this large scale to long-term cancer survivors is a new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
State University of New York at Buffalo
Amherst, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Banack, Hailey Rose — State University of New York at Buffalo
- Study coordinator: Banack, Hailey Rose
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.