Cancer Council is excited to announce 28 new cancer research projects being funded across Australia!
Thanks to the support of the community, Cancer Council is thrilled to award over $13.7 million in funding to world-class cancer researchers across Australia.
The projects span a range of cancers, including common cancers like breast and prostate, and rarer cancers such as pancreatic and childhood brain cancer.
This research was made possible thanks to the generous support of Chargers like you and your friends, family, and colleagues.
The Background
Every year, we receive many excellent and worthy applications for funding. Experts in research and members of the community help us decide which projects we should fund.
Research has driven significant improvements in cancer prevention, early detection, screening and treatment. As a result, over the last two decades, nearly 107,000 Australian lives have been saved.
This has been possible with the help of people like you, our supporters, who help us fund and conduct world-class research.
The Research
Sitting up for Radiotherapy
Researchers are designing and manufacturing a state-of-the-art radiotherapy chair to better target cancer cells and provide much-needed comfort for patients.
Radiotherapy is presently delivered with patients lying down on a flat hard carbon-fibre treatment couch. The innovative project is setting out to transform the treatment experience for cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.
“Many radiotherapy patients cannot tolerate lying down, including those with head, neck, or lung cancers, as they can have problems with swallowing, breathing or might suffer from chronic musculoskeletal conditions. If a patient is in an upright position, it is not only more comfortable, but it alters the patient anatomy.
This chair may reduce collateral radiation dose to radiation-sensitive organs that can lead to painful side-effects, such as damage to the lungs and a higher risk of cardiac events.”
- Associate Professor Nicholas Hardcastle
Childhood brain cancer research
Telethon Kids Institute Cancer Centre researcher, Dr Raelene Endersby, will work to develop less toxic treatments for children with brain cancer, thanks to support from a Cancer Council WA Research Fellowship.
Dr Endersby has been awarded a Cancer Council WA Research Fellowship worth almost $500,000, which will seek to test two experimental cancer drugs combined with low-dose radiation to determine if the combination is more effective for children with medulloblastoma.
Dr Endersby, who is the co-head of Telethon Kids Institute's Brain Cancer Research group, said using lower-dose radiation with a new combination of drugs would mean fewer side effects for young patients.
"High dose radiotherapy can be extremely toxic for young patients - the side effects can be devastating, and we need to find a better way to treat these kids," she said.
Other Projects
Learn about the other research projects being funded across Australia below:
