Author: Steph Chandler

An email from her immigration officer was the only warning Rachael Murphy got before a world-shaking diagnosis at age 30.

Looking back now, two years later, she admits to 9honey she “didn’t think it would be as sinister as it was”.

Born and raised in the UK, the 32-year-old moved to Australia in 2015 and decided to pursue permanent residency in 2022, which involved a ton of paperwork and a few routine health checks.

A fit and healthy young woman, she assumed she’d passed them all until an email appeared in her inbox a few months later.

“It said, ‘You failed the chest x-ray. Immigration want you to go and see a specialist,'” Murphy tells 9honey. 

“I honestly didn’t have a clue what it was or what it could be. I was just asking my immigration officer, ‘Who do I need to go and see? What are the next steps to resolve this?'”

More worried about her visa than anything, she went to her GP to organise more tests and mentioned she was due to return to the UK in a few weeks’ time.

He stopped her in her tracks, warning: “You can’t go to the UK for at least a month. This needs to be resolved, this needs to be a priority, this is pretty sinister.”

Suddenly nervous, Murphy called her parents.

“I’m not coming back,” she told them from the other side of the world, “but I can’t really tell you why yet, because I don’t really know.”

A blur of tests, biopsies and specialist appointments followed, where two words kept popping up: Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Murphy hoped the doctors’ suspicions would be proven wrong but when masses were uncovered in her chest and neck, she knew to brace herself for the worst.

At 30, Murphy was diagnosed with Stage 2A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system that can be deadly.

She had no obvious symptoms and if she hadn’t failed her visa health check, she may never have even known she was sick.

“It didn’t seem real. I was like, ‘Do I need to go home? What do I do?'” Murphy says.

“I needed to know what was going to happen to me, what the next steps were, so I could figure out if I was able to do it on my own.”

Though the five-year survival rate for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is over 87 per cent, Murphy needed to start treatment right away so the disease didn’t spread.

Her first thoughts were of her family; not just those back home in the UK, but the family she wanted to start one day with Mick.

Cancer treatment can take a huge toll on a woman’s fertility, so she went in for an urgent round of egg retrieval days after her diagnosis. 

It was all she could do on such short notice. The next week, Murphy started chemo.

Until then she hadn’t felt sick, but the chemo side effects hit her “like a ton of bricks”.

“It felt like the saliva in my mouth was acid, it was burning all the time, which made it very difficult to eat,” she says. “I was like, ‘I can’t do this for the next three months.'”

Murphy had fevers and chills, excruciating phantom jaw pain and felt horribly sick throughout her first round of chemo.

Though her team found a way to manage the side-effects, it left her with terrible anxiety about having to go through another 14 weeks of chemo and radiation.

“It was probably the first time I’d ever experienced anxiety. I had a couple of anxiety attacks and me and Mick would walk around in the middle of the night just to calm me down,” she reveals.

Mick was always there for her, but he could only take so much time off work and with her family thousands of kilometres away in the UK, Murphy often felt isolated.

The mental toll only got worse when she began to lose her hair.

“Going out of the house with a wig on, that really knocked my confidence,” she says. “I knew I was sick, but like the minute that my hair started falling out, everyone else could see it.”

Despite her struggles, Murphy kept working and maintained an active social life during treatment, focusing on the small wins every day.

“It sounds really weird, but I just tried to get on with it because I thought, ‘No one else is gonna do this for me,'” she says.

It was a tough slog but after months of brutal treatment, Murphy finally got good news; she was in remission.

The first thing she did was book a flight home.

“It was such a weird thing, wearing a wig on a flight for 24 hours,” she laughs.

“I was able to be with my family and just rest up for about six weeks, it was so good to finally do that.”

That was over a year ago and today Murphy has a clean bill of health – as well as permanent residency.

Now 32, she’s sharing her story to inspire other Australians to get behind vital cancer research efforts.

Murphy is leading by example and taking part in the 2km A Day in May fitness challenge to raise money and awareness for all cancers, not just Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

“I was really lucky in the sense that, for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the treatment success rate is pretty high compared to other cancers,” she says.

“But obviously not everyone’s as lucky [and] research is the key to levelling the playing field, so everyone can take comfort in the fact that there are good treatments available.”

Too many cancers are in desperate need of funding and research, but Murphy hopes to see a future where every Aussie diagnosed with cancer survives.

Rachael’s story highlights the life-saving potential of early detection, medical advancements and the crucial role of research in developing better treatments. Click here for more info and to get involved with 2km A Day In May.

This article originally appeared on 9Honey, here.

What is corporate philanthropy and what are the benefits?

Corporate philanthropy has in recent years started to decline due to the increasing pressure placed on businesses to ‘give back’. With consumer pressure on businesses to give more and stakeholders also applying pressure to prioritise the bottom, it can be a hard line item to argue for. However, the benefits of corporate philanthropy far outweigh the risks. In the following article, we’ll highlight exactly what those benefits are. 

What is Corporate Philanthropy 

Corporate philanthropy refers to a corporation or business promoting the welfare of others by providing financial support, in-kind donations or other resources for non-profit organisations. This act of voluntary donation, or support is a way for businesses to build strong relationships with their surrounding community through charitable events, fundraising opportunities, and donations of funds or time. 

Corporate philanthropy plays a vital role in today’s business world. It helps in fostering a culture of giving, which reflects a company’s commitment to making a positive impact on society. By aligning with a good cause, businesses can address pressing social, environmental, scientific, and economic challenges. It also helps in promoting a positive image for the business, which is crucial in today’s competitive market.  

How does it differ from social responsibility initiatives? 

Corporate philanthropy involves a corporation contributing to non-profit organisations through financial donations, time and resources. The main objective is to drive social change and reinvest wealth into a cause. These contributions are voluntary and can be made at the business’s discretion. In contrast, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a broad effort made by a corporation to positively impact the world. It combines a company’s brand strategy, business objectives, and charitable efforts to achieve its purposes. CSR aims to alleviate the negative effects a corporation has on the community, society, and the environment. While corporate philanthropy is given as a gesture of goodwill and a corporation’s choice to participate, it is unlikely to have a significant effect on its overall public perception.  

Forms of corporate philanthropy 

Direct giving  

Direct giving is a common form, in this approach non-profit organisations, community projects or causes that align with the business’s goals are supported with contributions, donations or funds. 

Gift matching 

Matching gifts programs are an excellent way for companies to support their employees’ charitable giving. Through these programs, companies match their employees’’ donations to charity effectively doubling the impact of each individual contribution. This allows employees to make a bigger difference in their communities.  

Volunteer programs 

Employee volunteer programs promote employee engagement and encourage them to contribute their time and skills towards charitable causes and community projects. These initiatives give employees an opportunity to make a meaningful impact and foster a sense of social responsibility. Companies may also incentivise employees by offering paid volunteer hours or organising company-wide volunteer events. This initiative aims to facilitate employees’ active participation in giving back to the community.  

Cause-related marketing  

Cause-related marketing is a unique approach to corporate giving where a company joins forces with a non-profit organisation to champion a specific cause or concern. This collaboration is often reinforced through the sale of products or service, whereby a percentage of the sales revenue is generously contributed to support the partner charity or cause.  

Partnerships 

By fostering community partnerships, businesses join forces with a local organisation or groups to tackle particular challenges or lend a helping hand to initiatives that enhance the well-being of the entire community.  

Benefits of Corporate Philanthropy for Businesses 

Engaging in corporate philanthropy can offer more than just the satisfaction of helping social causes. It can also create networking opportunities with other like-minded organisations and individuals, leading to potential partnerships and collaborations. 

Demonstrating a company’s commitment to social and environmental issues can go a long way in enhancing its public image. By encouraging goodwill and trust amongst customers and stakeholders, it can cultivate a deeper connection between the company and the community. This can ultimately lead to a stronger bond and loyalty towards the company brand and its products. By backing non-profit organisations, a company’s reputation and brand can be reinforced and stand out to customers as having common or similar values aligned with their own.     

Encouraging philanthropic initiatives can be a great way to enhance employee engagement and job satisfaction. By instilling a strong understanding of the company’s mission and highlighting the appreciation for its positive impact on society, it has the power to boost morale and increase team spirit within the company.  

Corporations can also reap the rewards of tax incentives and deductions by contributing to charitable causes or backing community-driven programs. 

How Corporate Philanthropy benefits employees 

Participating in charity events not only allows employees to make a significant difference in the community, but also fosters a sense of teamwork and encourages the development of leadership skills. By working together towards a common goal, employees gain a broader perspective of the community and can bond with co-workers who have shared a similar experience. These efforts ultimately improve workplace culture and create a sense of unity amongst workers. Employees who are supportive givers will feel like they are part of something bigger, and many individuals are eager to participate in fundraising opportunities to connect with their workplace’s values and be emotionally connected to the business beyond their job role.  

The Crucial Role Corporate Philanthropy Plays in Assisting Non-Profits 

Non-profit organisations receive valuable financial support from corporate philanthropy. This support comes in various forms such as donation, volunteer efforts and corporate programs. Thanks to the aid of these contributions, nonprofits can significantly expand their impact on society. Due to the nature of non-profit organisations they rely solely on donations to ensure they can make the positive impact they intend to make. For many non-profit organisations, corporate philanthropy is an incredibly important asset that benefits not only their organisation, but the donating business and the wider community.  

How Corporate Philanthropy benefits society and communities 

Corporate philanthropy is a powerful tool that businesses can use to make a positive impact on the world.  It helps create a positive social change and improve the lives of countless individuals. Non-profit organisations rely heavily on corporations to finance the resources necessary to offer services to the community and provide essential items to those who require them.   By donating their resources to charitable causes, businesses can help to improve the lives of others and make their communities a better place. In addition, corporate philanthropy can also benefit businesses themselves, by boosting their reputation, increasing employee engagement, and attracting new customers.

If you are looking for a way to make a difference in the world, we encourage you to consider donating to cancer research at ACRF. ACRF is a leading cancer research organisation that is dedicated to finding new and improved ways to detect, prevent and treat all types of cancer Your donation will help to fund important research that could save lives.

Click here to donate to ACRF today.

With September 24 marking World Cancer Research Day, Aussies can play a role in supporting life-saving cancer research by taking part in Australian Cancer Research Foundation’s Hair Dare challenge. 

Since 1984, Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) has awarded 82 grants totalling more than $174 million to 43 research institutions – giving scientists the tools to make ground-breaking discoveries into the prevention, detection and treatment of ALL types of cancer. 

To make this possible, ACRF relies on generous donors and fundraisers to get behind campaigns like Hair Dare, which involves participants shaving, cutting, colouring or going wild with their locks. 

It’s as simple as registering at fundraise.acrf.com.au/hairdare – individually or as a group – then customising a fundraising page, encouraging others to donate and setting a date for your Dare. 

With an average of 444 Australians diagnosed with cancer every day, and two in five being diagnosed before the age of 85, the importance of world-class research cannot be overstated. 

“World Cancer Research Day is a chance to reflect on how far we’ve progressed in the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer but also a reminder of the vital research still needed to tackle such a complex disease,” ACRF CEO Kerry Strydom said. 

“Initiatives like Hair Dare allow ACRF to continue backing the most brilliant and brightest minds as we strive to reach our vision of a world without cancer. Whether it’s a full shave, a crazy cut or a splash of colour in your hair, you’ll be supporting Australia’s best cancer research by taking on a Hair Dare. 

“Devastatingly, almost everyone has been or will be touched by cancer in some way. Hair Dare participants can help ensure their loved ones don’t miss out on vital research by raising crucial funds. 

“There’s nothing like a dare to give you the courage to achieve something great. Hair grows back relatively quickly, but the impact of cutting-edge cancer research will last forever. 

“We’ve already seen some wild and wacky Hair Dares – including participants shaving their hair after years of growth – as heartfelt tributes to family and friends affected by cancer. 

“Every dollar donated adds up to millions of dollars’ worth of impact in cancer research.” 

The ACRF team will provide participants with fundraising support, tips and motivation along the way! 

To sign up to take part in ACRF’s Hair Dare, visit fundraise.acrf.com.au/hairdare 

When six friends took off on a five-day road trip across NSW earlier this year in vintage vehicles, little did they know how much they would raise in their efforts.

The group of car enthusiasts steered across country, notching up 800 kilometres to raise $50,000 for Australian Cancer Research Foundation.

Not only did they breeze through the adventures, the mates almost doubled their target. Mario Nearchou, Harry Moustakas, Nick Harris, Michael Skyllas, John Assarapin and Bob Hickman, doubled their target!

On June 2, the ‘Old Blokes Driving for a Cancer Cure’ hosted an incredible fundraising event at Doltone House Sylvania Waters. Together with the funds raised during their inspiring road trip around NSW in April, they have achieved an outstanding total of $94,406 life-saving funds raised to help back the brightest minds and boldest ideas in cancer research. Their support will play a vital role in advancing cancer research and making a difference in countless lives. 

“The loss of my father and father-in-law, as well as work colleagues and friends, to this disease has inspired me to take action and raise funds for cancer research.” Mario Nearchou, Old Blokes fundraiser

If you feel inspired and would like to make an impact of your own, we encourage you to organize a fundraising event for ACRF! Reach out to us at fundraising@acrf.com.au. Together, we are making a difference and bringing hope to those who need it most including the people we love

When faced with a cancer diagnosis, the prospect of navigating the various stages can be overwhelming. It’s natural to want to understand what will happen next and what you can expect along the way. For those facing or living with cervical cancer in particular, it’s important to know where you stand in terms of stage so that treatment and follow-up care are tailored appropriately. This post will provide an overview of what each stage looks like so that you can have a clearer idea about which treatments are available to you moving forward in your journey.

What are the stages of cervical cancer?

Doctors assign stages to cancer that range from 0 to 4 depending on the size of the cancer and whether it has spread to other parts of the body. These are based on cervical screenings, scans and biopsies (where they take a section of cells to screen for abnormalities / cancer).

Is cervical cancer curable at stage 1?

In stage 1 the cancer has spread from the cervix lining into the deeper tissue, remaining within the uterus. This is generally curable via small scale surgery such as loop excision, cone biopsy, laser surgery or cryosurgery.  

• Loop excision: where a hot loop of wire with an electrical current is used to cut away the abnormal tissue. 
• Cone biopsy: this takes a cone shaped piece of tissue from the cervix. This removes the abnormal cells as well as checking if the cancer has spread beyond the lining of the cervix. 
• Laser surgery: involves using a long hot beam to cut away sections of abnormal cells. 
• Cryosurgery: is where a cold metal probe is used to freeze and kill abnormal cells. 

Radiation therapy can also be used which involves high-energy X-rays. There are two methods for this, internal radiation therapy and external beam radiation therapy. In stage 1 usually the latter is used where a machine outside the body directs radiation at the affected areas destroying the cancer cells.

Is stage 2 cervical cancer curable?

Stage 2 cervical cancer is when the cancer is still within the pelvic area but has spread beyond the uterus to nearby areas, such as the vagina or tissue near the cervix.  

This can be cured by surgery depending on the extent of the spread and your age:

• A trachelectomy involves the surgical removal of the cervix and upper part of the vagina. This surgery preserves fertility and is common in young people. 
• A total hysterectomy can be performed if the cancer has spread further than this. A total hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus, cervix, soft tissue around the cervix and the top of the vagina (called a radical hysterectomy). 
• Bilateral salpingectomy is the same but where the fallopian tubes are also removed. 
• Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is where the ovaries are also removed.

Is stage 3 cervical cancer life-threatening?

In stage 3 cervical cancer, the tumour involves the lower third of the vagina. It has spread to the pelvic wall, and caused swelling of the kidney/ affected kidney function, and/or involves regional lymph nodes. 

Lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped organs that help fight infection. The doctor can use an injected dye to identify the lymph nodes closest to the tumour and these can be removed and tested for cancer. This can result in the build up of fluid in the legs, called lymphoedema. 

Stage 3 cervical cancer can be life threatening but can also be curable if the person responds well to treatment. At stage 3 or even at late stage 2 chemotherapy is usually administered and can be in combination with radiation therapy. 

Is stage 4 cervical cancer curable?

Stage 4A cervical cancer is when it has spread to the bladder or rectum. Stage 4B means it has spread to other parts of the body.

For stage 4 cervical cancer, a combination of different chemotherapy drugs are commonly used. Pelvic exenteration surgery can also be performed which involves removing all or part of the affected organs. Openings called a stoma can be made to allow urine and faeces to flow from inside the body to a collection bag. Plastic surgery to reconstruct the vagina can also be offered after pelvic exenteration. 

As well as using different combinations of medicines in chemotherapy, targeted therapy can also be used. Targeted therapy uses medicines that specifically attack cancer cells, affecting how they grow, divide and interact with other cells. These therapies can sometimes cure the cancer or if it is incurable lessen the symptoms.

Furthering Cancer Research

ACRF is dedicated to finding better ways of preventing, detecting, and treating cancer through top-tier research. Your contribution helps make this mission a reality – so click here if you want to join the fight against cancer! Click here to see donation options or make a donation today.

References:

Cancer Australia

The Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) Centre for Advanced Cancer Genomics, housing the next generation DNA sequencing technology, was opened today at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research by the Federal Member for Curtin, Ms Kate Chaney.

ACRF CEO, Kerry Strydom, in Perth for the event, said the collection of latest technology in examining cancers at a cellular level will benefit cancer patients in future.

“This is the next wave in cancer research. ACRF supports cutting-edge cancer research projects that our Medical Research Advisory Committee considers to have the greatest potential to improve outcomes for patients. “ACRF’s award of a $1.75 million grant to fund this Centre is a real credit to the pioneering research being undertaken here in Perth, Western Australia”.

The ACRF Centre for Advanced Cancer Genomics is being led by Professor Alistair Forrest at the Harry Perkins Institute. It includes a consortium of cancer researchers from across Perth who are building a comprehensive atlas of the cell types that make up cancer tumours.

“The Centre’s suite of technology will make it quicker and less costly to generate large amounts of cancer cell data, which means the tumours of more patients will be able to be analysed.

“These technologies are the latest in genomics. They provide a once in a decade opportunity to analyse thousands of cells from hundreds of tumours and examine billions of genetic sequences to determine the genetic make-up of each tumour and provide new insights into how cancer cells evolve and interact with normal cells.

“What these spatial technologies will allow us to do is look at tumours in hundreds if not thousands of colours, where previously we were analysing tumours, effectively in two colours,” Professor Forrest said.

Every tumour is unique. Through single cell analysis researchers are better able to predict a tumour’s response to drugs, to identify new drugs to combat cancer and develop innovative ways to kill cancer cells. In the past two years, using equipment as it arrived for the new Centre, researchers have been examining different tumours including a type of ovarian cancer which typically recurs and has poor outcomes, melanoma samples and blood samples from mesothelioma patients, which is a disease with a terrible prognosis.

“Now with the Centre’s final piece of equipment in place we will have something like a Google map of a tumour, we’ll have spatial resolution of where these cells are relative to each other.

“This is particularly important because cells signal to each other, they send little messages to each other. We will be able see the signaling between cancer cells and immune cells. We will be able to see if the immune cells are likely to recognise the cancer cells and destroy them or if the tumour cells are sending a ‘don’t eat me’ signal to the immune cells causing the immune cells to switch off.

“We will be able to see what genes are being expressed, what cell types are next to each other, what they are saying to each other, whether there are multiple genetic variants in a tumour, whether some would respond to a particular drug and which would not, giving researchers vital information on alterations to new treatments or things to target in making new treatments.

“In terms of potentially leading to new treatments, being able to understand which cells are next to each other and what messages they’re sending to each other enables researchers to think of treatments that disrupt that.

“For example, if you know which cells are sending a ‘don’t eat me’ signal to immune cells and you turn that off then suddenly the immune system can start attacking them” he said.

Professor Forrest said the low survival rates for some cancers, such as mesothelioma, ovarian and pancreatic cancers, highlight the need for these new approaches to understand and target cancer better.

A state-of-the-art suite of high-tech machinery, to be officially launched today, is enabling SA cancer researchers to detect, target and treat Australia’s number one killer like never before.

Thanks to a $2.5 million grant from Australian Cancer Research Foundation, the ACRF Centre for Integrated Cancer Systems Biology features next-generation equipment designed to deliver personalised treatment.

Professor Tim Hughes, Chief Investigator at the new facility, says the incredible technology and expertise is being deployed against an array of cancer streams including leukaemias, myelomas, prostate cancer and colorectal cancer.

“Cutting-edge mass spectrometry instruments will allow scientists to identify novel molecules and pathways that play key roles in cancer development and progression,” he said.

“The strength and potential for great advances that this centre presents are centred around the partnerships that have already been established across Adelaide BioMed City.”

Professor Hughes is an embodiment of the collaboration that underpins the ACRF Centre for Integrated Cancer Systems Biology. He is Co-Leader of SAHMRI’s Precision Cancer Medicine Theme, a Beat Cancer Professor with the University of Adelaide and a consultant haematologist with the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

He says the ACRF Centre for Integrated Cancer Systems Biology is being utilised by some of the world’s most respected cancer researchers.

“These highly intelligent, highly skilled professionals have extensive experience in the bench-to-bedside journey including preclinical studies, investigations with vast patient sample repositories, drug development and clinical trials,” he said.

“Where we’ll see significant advancements is through enhanced access to an expanded and well-resourced bioinformatics team that will process the complex datasets generated by this latest equipment. This will provide insights into cancer hallmarks that are specific to each patient, leading to innovative, personalised approaches to effectively treat their cancer.”

The ACRF grant was awarded in 2018 and the centre has been making a material difference to cancer research since 2019, although its official launch was delayed by COVID-19. ACRF CEO Kerry Strydom is delighted to see the revolutionary facility come to life.

“Australian Cancer Research Foundation’s mission is to back brilliance in pursuit of a cancer-free world – and this centre is nothing if not brilliant,” Strydom said.

“We look forward to seeing the strides made by the team at SAHMRI as they harness the world-class resources now at their disposal to change the lives of countless cancer patients.”

Founded in 1984, ACRF funds pioneering research and helps give scientists the tools and infrastructure needed to achieve medical breakthroughs.

So far, the organisation has awarded 82 grants totalling more than $174 million to 43 research institutes in Australia.

The equipment and its highly-trained operators at the ACRF Centre for Integrated Cancer Systems Biology are housed across two sites – SAHMRI’s headquarters on North Terrace, Adelaide, and the adjacent University of Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences building.

The centre is being officially launched by South Australia’s Governor, Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson, in a ceremony at SAHMRI today.

Zero Childhood Cancer precision medicine program expands to include all young Australians with cancer The Zero Childhood Cancer Program (ZERO), Australia’s world leading precision medicine program for children with cancer, will this month begin a progressive expansion to become available to all Australians aged 0 to 18 years with cancer, by the end of the year.

Since 2017, ZERO − led in partnership by Children’s Cancer Institute and the Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick − has offered precision medicine to Australian children with the highest-risk cancers, those who face less than 30 per cent chance of survival.

Now, thanks to funding from the Australian Government and Minderoo Foundation, ZERO is being expanded to be available to children diagnosed with any type of cancer, irrespective of their cancer risk. The expansion will be done in stages, starting with all children diagnosed with brain cancer, then rolling out to all other types of childhood cancers as the year progresses.

A true team effort, ZERO includes all nine of Australia’s children’s hospitals as well as 22 national and international research partners, and is based on the premise that every child’s cancer is unique. Sophisticated genomic analysis is performed for each child enrolled on the Program, allowing scientists to look for genetic alterations that may be driving the cancer’s growth, then search for drugs capable of targeting those alterations. This information is returned to the clinicians treating the child, to help inform their decision-making.

“The expansion of ZERO to be available to all Australian children with cancer is something we’ve all been working towards for a long time, so it’s extremely exciting to now see it unfolding,” said Professor Michelle Haber AM, Executive Director of Children’s Cancer Institute.

“Analysing each child’s cancer at a genomic level is providing unprecedented and extremely valuable insights into childhood cancer. For example, finding out which genetic changes drive these cancers will allow us to develop new targeted therapies matched to these changes. In the expanded ZERO, genomic analysis will occur from the time of diagnosis for every child enrolled, allowing us to track the way each child’s cancer changes in response to treatment. Analysing the cancer journey of up to 1000 young Australians each year in this way will add volumes to our understanding of childhood cancer, for the benefit of all children diagnosed with cancer in the future.”

“The more children who participate in ZERO, the more we learn. In this way, children being treated for cancer today are actually helping the children of tomorrow.” As explained by Professor David Ziegler, Chair of Clinical Trials for ZERO, Paediatric Oncologist at Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital, and Group Leader at Children’s Cancer Institute, the precision medicine approach taken by ZERO represents a fundamental change in the way cancer is treated.

“Analysing a child’s cancer at a genomic level can lead to a whole new way of understanding that child’s cancer. This can lead to a more accurate diagnosis, prognosis and risk stratification, and in some cases, a refined treatment approach.”

“In ZERO’s first national precision medicine trial, we saw some very promising results in children with the highest risk cancers. Some children are alive today who would have died had they not been enrolled on ZERO, while some others had precious months added to their life by changing their treatments. ZERO’s expansion will now allow us to investigate the potential of precision medicine to help all young patients with cancer, regardless of their risk profile.”

Professor David Eisenstat, Head of Department, Children’s Cancer Centre, The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, commented “ZERO is a truly national program, and all Australian children’s hospitals are playing a critical part. With ZERO now expanding, every Australian child diagnosed with cancer, no matter where they live, will have the opportunity to benefit from precision medicine.”

“Here in Melbourne, we have several children who have benefited from targeted therapies identified through ZERO, including Kristian Kozul. Kristian has an aggressive brain cancer and without the targeted therapy ZERO identified, it is unlikely he would have survived. To see him doing so well today is beyond all our expectations.”

Kristian Kozul was just 15 months old when he began having seizures. No one could determine what was wrong with Kristian until a biopsy at the Royal Children’s Hospital led to the diagnosis of cancer − a rare brain tumour known as anaplastic astrocytoma. Kristian began intensive treatment. However, after five months of chemotherapy, the aggressive tumour had not shrunk but instead had grown bigger.

Kristian was given less than a year to live − a devastating prognosis for a young child. With Kristian being too young for radiation, and having no other options available to them, his parents agreed to him doing a genetic sequencing test as part of the Zero Childhood Cancer Program.

The test was successful in identifying a rare genetic mutation and in November 2017, Kristian, then two years old, was enrolled in a clinical trial open at Sydney Children’s Hospital to test a drug targeting that same mutation. After just weeks of treatment, an MRI scan showed that his tumour had stopped growing.

Today, more than five years later, Kristian is not only alive but is thriving. He has started school and is enjoying life to the full.

“Kristian continues to grow and develop each day. He has come such a long way and continues to amaze us. We know that if it wasn’t for ZERO, our little boy wouldn’t be with us today, and we couldn’t be more grateful,” said Kristian’s mum Maria.

Excerpt from CCI. ACRF has been backing CCI since 2001, providing over $9.2 million in funding to enable cutting edge research programs. 

New QIMR Berghofer research has found that low-dose aspirin may improve ovarian cancer survival.
See video here. The study followed more than 900 Australian women newly-diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and asked them how often they used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin.

Lead researcher Dr Azam Majidi said the women who reported taking NSAIDs at least four days a week in the 12 months after diagnosis, lived longer on average than occasional or non-users. Most of the frequent users were taking daily low-dose aspirin.

“Our findings suggest that frequent NSAID use might improve survival for women with ovarian cancer, regardless of whether they start taking the drugs before or after diagnosis,” Dr Majidi said.

“We found the difference would translate to an average of an extra 2.5 months’ survival in the five years post-diagnosis. While this might not sound like a lot, it is significant for ovarian cancer. The disease is often diagnosed at an advanced stage when the prognosis is poor, and treatment options are limited.”

Ovarian cancer can be hard to detect and usually isn’t discovered until stages three or four, when the five-year survival rate is just 29 per cent. It is Australia’s deadliest gynaecological cancer.

Up to 80 per cent of women experience recurrence of the cancer after treatment. However, the QIMR Berghofer study suggested that in those who frequently used NSAIDs, the cancer did not come back as quickly.

Dr Majidi said the findings offer hope that low-dose aspirin may help ovarian cancer survival at a population-wide level, while researchers continue to search for better therapies. However, she also stressed that aspirin is not safe for everyone so women should not start taking the drugs without consulting their doctor.

“One of the exciting things about these results is that low-dose aspirin is affordable and relatively safe for use at a population-wide level,” she said.

“While more targeted and advanced treatments show great promise, at the moment they are very expensive and not accessible to everyone – especially in poorer countries.” “More research including clinical trials is needed to confirm whether these drugs can improve survival for women affected by this terrible disease.”

The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is not the first to suggest a link between NSAIDs and ovarian cancer survival. However, some previous studies may have been affected by methodological problems, which this latest research sought to address.

It was made possible by the world-first Ovarian Cancer Prognosis and Lifestyle (OPAL) study, set up by Professor Penny Webb in 2012 to investigate lifestyle factors which may improve survival and quality of life for women with ovarian cancer.

More than 900 newly-diagnosed Australian women signed up to the OPAL study, which aims to deliver advice to future patients on lifestyle changes that can help beat the disease. The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.

This article was originally published by QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. ACRF has been backing QIMR since 2007, providing over $7.05 million in funding to enable cutting edge research programs. 

Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) is encouraging Aussies to take on the inaugural Fit40 in Feb challenge – exercising for 40 minutes each day in February to raise vital funds for cancer research.

By tackling Fit40 in Feb and registering a team with friends, family or colleagues, you can help ACRF back brilliance in its mission to reach a world without cancer.

Each individual or team will have an online donation page, making it easy for them to share their progress throughout the challenge.

There’s a plethora of ways for challengers to reach the magical 40-minute milestone each day, whether it’s running, walking, swimming, cycling, dancing or lifting weights – as long as you’re moving!

Not only does Fit40 in Feb support pioneering cancer research, it promotes healthy habits that could stop participants from developing the dreaded disease.

Collectively adopting a cancer-smart lifestyle, including exercise and a balanced diet, could result in one in three cancer cases being prevented and the number of cancer deaths dropping significantly.

Cancer doesn’t discriminate, however, regardless of age or fitness – underlining the need for ACRF to continue funding groundbreaking research.

Ashleigh Mills is living proof that anyone can be affected by cancer. She was just 25 and in the prime of her life when she received a thyroid cancer diagnosis in June 2015.

At the time, Ashleigh had just graduated university, started her first full-time role as a lawyer and moved out of home. “Everything seemed to be going according to plan,” she said. It was during a weekend away with friends that Ashleigh’s world changed.

After complaining of a “strange sensation” in her throat – something she often experienced, but doctors had dismissed as an anxiety symptom – Ashleigh’s friend noticed a lump on her neck.

Ashleigh didn’t think much of it, but was convinced to go to a GP to get it checked at her friend’s insistence. Just a week later, she was floored upon being told she had thyroid cancer.

“For someone who had always planned their day down to the ninth degree, my diagnosis came as a confronting reminder that no one can ever really know what is around the corner for them,” Ashleigh said.

“My diagnosis came at a time where everything in my life seemed to have finally clicked into the place that I had carved out for it. What I hadn’t planned for was processing a cancer diagnosis at 25 …”

“There are many things you can’t control about a cancer diagnosis. But what you can control is the way you respond to it. And I responded to it by backing science.”

Following her diagnosis, Ashleigh underwent a total thyroidectomy. She then had radioactive iodine treatment, thyrogen injections, whole body scans and took daily medication.

While she continues to have hormone replacement therapy, today Ashleigh doesn’t require active cancer treatment – something she attributes to research being backed by the likes of ACRF.

“The survival rates for many types of cancer, including thyroid cancer, have increased by more than 20% over the past 30 years. That’s an encouraging statistic – but it is also a fact,” she said.

Kerry Strydom, CEO of Australian Cancer Research Foundation said Fit40 in Feb is an exciting new fundraising initiative for Australians to get involved with, together we can unite as a community, raise vital funds that bring us closer to a world without cancer.

“Cancer research breakthroughs are now happening at a faster rate than ever before as scientific advancements are allowing our researchers to see, analyse and monitor patterns in cells and patients that were simply not possible only a few years ago.

“When you donate to ACRF, you help give Australian cancer researchers access to the advanced technology, equipment and infrastructure they need to find better methods of prevention, detection and treatment for all types of cancer.”

Join the Fit 40 in Feb campaign and do your bit to cultivate a cancer-smart lifestyle, while contributing funds to the biggest and brightest minds and the next breakthrough that is within their reach. Participants can register or donate to Fit40 in Feb here.

Garvan researcher receives Cancer Australia funding to progress lung cancer prediction and treatment.

A project to investigate how lung cancer patients might better respond to personalised therapy may improve survival rates and quality of life.

The project, led by Garvan Institute of Medical Research scientist Dr Amelia Parker, will go ahead thanks to funding from Cancer Australia.

Over two years, Dr Parker will test whether a protein in lung cancer tissue can be used to identify high-risk patients and predict their response to therapy.

“Squamous lung cancer makes up 40% of all lung cancers, yet treatment options for this subtype are limited with a five-year survival rate of less than 20%,” says Dr Parker.

The project builds on Dr Parker’s recent cancer discoveries, bringing together researchers and clinicians from the Garvan Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Woolcock Institute to leverage Garvan’s capabilities and expertise in imaging, state-of-the-art spatial omics technologies, cancer cell biology and advanced lung cancer models.

Personalising treatment for high-risk lung cancer

Survival rates for squamous lung cancer have only marginally improved in recent decades and at present treatment options for patients are limited. Dr Parker’s work has identified specific changes in proteins in the lung that might help lung cancer cells to spread throughout the body, enabling cancer to return months or years after treatment.

Dr Parker will study how these protein changes drive tumour progression. Along with the Matrix and Metastasis Team at Garvan, she will also investigate if a new biomarker could be used to predict whether a patient is at risk of their disease returning.

This will allow the development of a precision medicine strategy for lung cancer patients, where clinicians could identify which lung cancer patients are at high risk of developing the aggressive form, and which treatments might be the most effective.

“Our work could develop the first indicator of squamous lung cancer risk and prognosis. This would allow us to avoid the current ‘watch and wait’ approach used now, which profoundly affects patients’ quality of life,” says Dr Parker.

Dr Parker’s research has also uncovered a potential way to block the tumour-promoting effects of these lung changes. She will now test whether the repurposing of an already approved drug can be used to develop a more effective, individualised treatment for squamous lung cancer patients.

This research article was originally published by Garvan. ACRF has been backing Garvan since 2003, providing over $15 million in funding to enable cutting edge research programs. 

$2.1 million has been awarded to establish the ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI).

We are honoured to share the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) has awarded a $2.1 million grant to establish a state-of-the-art ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute.

An ACRF grant is provided only to progressive projects that will take us forward in our shared mission to reach a world without cancer. We believe this year’s award to Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute will help achieve this mission.

The ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine will utilise a “theranostic” approach of combined imaging and treatment with novel drugs to enhance therapeutic responses and exploit new technology for tumour treatment. Theranostics is an exciting area of cancer treatment – a form of precision medicine in which radioisotopes are combined to diagnose and treat a tumour.

The radiochemistry lab at the heart of the ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine will support the supply of radiopharmaceuticals for theranostic trials – meaning Australian cancer patients can access new therapies as they’re developed.

Precision oncology can benefit up to 50% of cancer patients by determining the most effective treatment based on their cancer’s profile, rather than a one size fits all approach.

“ACRF is proud to enable transformative research that will be conducted at the ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine, accelerating translation of discoveries into the clinic to ensure optimal outcomes for cancer patients.” Kerry Strydom, ACRF CEO.

WORLD-CLASS RADIOCHEMISTRY LAB TO OPEN AT OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE – GIVING AUSTRALIAN CANCER PATIENTS ACCESS TO NEW THERAPIES

Olivia Newton-John’s legacy continues to inspire with a cutting-edge radiochemistry laboratory to be established at the cancer research institute bearing the beloved entertainer’s name in Victoria.

Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) has today awarded a $2.1 million grant to establish the state-of-the-art ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute.

Precision oncology can benefit up to 50% of cancer patients by determining the most effective treatment based on their cancer’s profile, rather than a one size fits all approach.

The ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine will utilise a “theranostic” approach of combined imaging and treatment with novel drugs to enhance therapeutic responses and exploit new technology for tumour treatment. Theranostics is an exciting new area of cancer treatment – a form of precision medicine in which radioisotopes are combined to diagnose and treat a tumour.

For example, Lu-PSMA-617 is under consideration in Australia after recently being approved to treat prostate cancer in the US and Europe. New theranostic targets will be developed and validated at the ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine for use across several cancer types.

The radiochemistry lab at the heart of the ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine will support the supply of radiopharmaceuticals for theranostic trials – meaning Australian cancer patients can access new diagnostics and therapies as they are developed.

Chief Investigator, Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute’s Professor Andrew Scott AM, said: “Precision medicine has been described as the future for cancer treatment, whereby identifying key targets in a patient’s cancer and individualising treatments based on appropriate treatment selection can result in improved outcomes.

“The ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine will establish a unique and exciting capability for translation of discoveries into the clinic and provide a key technology for theranostics for multi-centre clinical trials across Australia.

“This will link outstanding researchers in cancer biology, drug development, radiochemistry and molecular imaging of cancer, leading to novel therapeutic approaches and clinical trials.”

Australian Cancer Research Foundation CEO Kerry Strydom, said ACRF is proud to enable transformative research that will be conducted at the ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine, accelerating translation of discoveries into the clinic to ensure optimal outcomes for cancer patients.

“ACRF supports innovation that leads to better ways to prevent, detect and treat all cancers. With precision medicine and theranostics, in particular, regarded as the way forward for effective cancer treatment, we anticipate lifesaving impact from the ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine,” Kerry added.

ACRF will formally award the $2.1 million grant to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute at the Sydney Opera House this evening. The event – Celebrating Brilliance – will also showcase remarkable support for cancer research in Australia.

Among the attendees will be ACRF Medical Research Advisory Committee members Professor Doug Hilton AO, Emeritus Professor Ian Frazer AC and Professor Roger Reddel AO. The grant will be awarded by Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC.

ACRF’s $2.1M investment has the potential to result in a return of $8.19M with $5.49M in health gains and $2.7M in wider economic gains.

The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation has also committed $300,000, over three years, for technical project personnel to drive new theranostic ovarian cancer treatments.

It’s fitting for the ACRF Centre for Precision Medicine to reside at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute given the late Olivia Newton-John’s tireless quest to improve cancer treatment amid her ongoing journey with the disease.

A new trial will test whether ‘priming’ pancreatic cancer can make it more susceptible to chemotherapy.

A clinical trial into pancreatic cancer treatment will explore findings from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research that suggest a new targeted treatment can make the tumours more susceptible to chemotherapy and improve patient survival rates.

The new trial led by Amplia Therapeutics, in collaboration with Professor Paul Timpson from the Invasion and Metastasis Lab at Garvan, will test whether the new drug called AMP945 can help break down the defences of pancreatic tumours.

It will focus on patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer and one of the most lethal cancers worldwide. The five-year survival rate is less than 10% and drops below 3% if the cancer has already metastasised.

“The survival rates of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients are sadly so low and have been largely unchanged for decades,” says Professor Timpson. “Our approach is a promising new clinically relevant avenue to improve on current treatments and potentially make a real difference for patients.

“By making cancer cells more sensitive to chemotherapy, we hope to improve survival rates for pancreatic cancer patients. This work is a powerful example of cutting-edge research in the laboratory collaborating with industry’s expertise in drug development and potential clinical translation,” he says.

Amplia Therapeutics is sponsoring the trial, which will run in hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne before opening to patients around Australia and then overseas. Patients can be recruited via their treating doctor and further information on how to join the trial can be found here.

A new strategy for treatment

AMP945 targets a protein produced by pancreatic cancer cells called Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) that controls the formation of tough, fibrous tissue through a process known as fibrosis. This new approach to treating both the surrounding tissue in combination with traditional chemotherapy for the tumour has shown promising results in preclinical studies led by Professor Timpson and his team.

“We wanted to try and improve on chemotherapy by using a unique approach – targeting the environment around the tumour to make the cancer more sensitive to treatment,” says Dr David Herrmann, co-lead of the study from the Garvan’s Invasion and Metastasis Lab.

Preclinical studies in experimental models at Garvan showed AMP945 could effectively block FAK and reduce the stiffness and density of connective tissue surrounding the cancer cells called the stroma. This ‘primes’ the tumour for chemotherapy and reduces its ability to spread.

“On this softer surface the cancer cells became stalled, rendering them more sensitive to chemotherapy. Effectively, we were increasing the window of vulnerability of these cancer cells to chemotherapy, reducing both pancreatic cancer growth and spread in our models,” Dr Herrmann says.

Clinical translation

This new approach to treating pancreatic cancer has been years in the making and would not have been possible without the combined efforts of the industry partners and research teams at a number of institutions whose work identified AMP945 as a potential new drug.

“Reaching a Phase 2 clinical trial milestone for AMP945 represents an important achievement for Australia’s medical research and biotechnology sector, signalling the translation of a novel therapy – discovered and developed by Australian scientists – into a tangible and potentially life-saving treatment for people with pancreatic cancer,” says Amplia CEO and Managing Director, Dr John Lambert.

AMP945 is being developed by Melbourne-based pharmaceutical company Amplia Therapeutics (ASX:ATX). The potential new drug arose from a collaboration involving Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and the CSIRO.

The AMP945 Phase 2 clinical trial is now recruiting people who have been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer, specifically those patients who have inoperable pancreatic cancer or whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body and have not previously been treated with chemotherapy. Patients will be initially recruited at hospitals in Melbourne and Sydney, and the trial is expected to expand to other countries as it progresses. In total, it is expected that the trial will recruit approximately 62 participants.

This research article was originally published by Garvan. ACRF has been backing Garvan since 2003, providing over $15 million in funding to enable cutting edge research programs. 

What is Lung Cancer?

Lung cancer occurs when abnormal cells in the lung grow in an uncontrolled way. The cancer often spreads (metastasises) in tumours to other parts of the body before it can be detected in the lungs. These tumours can affect how the lungs usually work, which is to supply oxygen to the body through the bloodstream and remove carbon dioxide from the body.

Although lung cancer can develop in any part of the lung, most lung cancers begin in the cells that line these air passages (bronchi) and the airway branches (alveoli or bronchioles) in the lung.

Lung cancer cells that remain within the lungs are classed as non-invasive lung cancer. When the tumour invades normal tissues in the lung, the tumour is considered to be malignant. The cells can also invade and multiply in nearby parts of the body, such as the chest wall or diaphragm, obtaining a new blood supply to continue tumour growth.

Lung cancer is one of the ten most common cancers in both men and women in Australia.

What causes lung cancer and who is at risk? 

There is not a direct cause related to development of lung cancer however there are certain types of risks and factors that can heighten the chance.

Factors that are associated with a higher risk of developing lung cancer include:

Lifestyle factors:

• Current or former tobacco smoking – this is the greatest risk factor for lung cancer, and the risk is greatest for people who began smoking early in life, smoked for longer periods and smoked more often. Approximately 86% of females and 90% of males who are diagnosed with lung cancer have smoked in their lives. However around 12% of people diagnosed have not smoked at all. 

Environmental or occupational factors:

• Exposure to secondhand smoke (passive smoking)
• Occupational exposures, such as radon, asbestos, diesel exhaust and silica. Exposure to asbestos also increases the risk of developing mesothelioma, which starts in the lining surrounding the lungs (the pleura)
• Exposure to air pollution

Personal factors:

• Increasing age
• Family history of lung cancer
• A history of chronic lung disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary fibrosis
• A personal history of cancer, including lung cancer, head and neck cancer and bladder cancer

What are the key symptoms of lung cancer? 

Many conditions can cause similar symptoms as lung cancer. We recommend consulting with your doctor if you have or develop any of the below symptoms:

• coughing up blood
• a new or changed cough that doesn’t go away
• chest pain and/or shoulder pain or discomfort – the pain may be worse with coughing or deep breathing
• trouble breathing or shortness of breath
• hoarse voice
• weight loss
• loss of appetite
• chest infection that doesn’t go away
• tiredness or weakness

It’s important to note that even if you have never smoked, you can develop lung cancer. Environmental and occupational factors are the second highest cause of lung cancer. This can include exposure to air pollution as well as occupational exposures of asbestos, radon, diesel exhaust and silica.

What are the stages of lung cancer?

Tests are conducted to help determine what stage of lung cancer a patient is at and if it has spread to other parts of the body. Knowing the stage of the disease helps determine which treatment is best.

Non–small cell lung cancer is divided into six stages, depending on whether the cancer has spread to other areas of the body:

• Occult (hidden) stage: cancer cells are found in sputum or other fluids from the lung, but the cancer isn’t seen in other tests
• Stage 0 (carcinoma in situ): the cancer is in the top layers of cells lining the air passages. It has not spread to lymph nodes or distant areas of the body
• Stages I (divided into IA and IB), II (divided into IIA and IIB) and III (divided into IIIA and IIIB): these involve the cancer increasing in size, and spreading to nearby lymph nodes (stages II and III)
• Stage IV: the cancer may have spread to the opposite lung, space around the lungs or heart, or other organs, such as bone, liver and brain

Small cell lung cancer is divided into two stages for the purposes of treatment:

• Limited stage: the cancer is in only one side of the chest (possibly including lymph nodes) and can be treated with a single radiation field
• Extensive stage: the cancer has spread widely throughout the lung, to the other lung, to lymph nodes on the other side of the chest or to distant organs

The staging system used for non–small cell lung cancer is increasingly being used for small cell lung cancer.

Tests to determine the stage of lung cancer can include:

• imaging tests, including CT scans, PET scans, MRI, bone scans and ultrasound
• endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)
• mediastinoscopy and mediastinotomy (rarely)
• lymph node biopsy
• bone marrow aspiration and biopsy (rarely used these days)
• blood tests, to provide a complete blood count and for other laboratory tests

How is lung cancer treated? 

Treatment for lung cancer depends on the stage at the time of diagnosis. This includes the size of the tumour and if the tumour has spread in the lung, the type of lung cancer, cancer gene mutations and the overall health of the patient.

Treatment can include surgery to remove part or the whole lobe of the lung, the entire lung or part of the lung airway (bronchus). Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are also treatment options for patients.

An emerging body of research is indicating that knowing a tumour’s genomic profile could be more important for successful treatment than knowing its location or size. As each tumour’s genomic profile is unique, this approach is often referred to as personalised or precision medicine.

Treatment for lung cancer does depend on the stage of the cancer, the patient’s breathing capacity and general health. In most cases surgical removal of a tumour offers the best chance of a cure for patients who have early-stage lung cancer.

Types of Lung Cancer Surgery Include:

• Lobectomy: Surgery where one lobe of a lung is removed (the right lung has 3 lobes, and the left lung has 2 lobes). A lobectomy is most commonly performed for a non-small cell carcinoma in which the tumour is confined to a single lobe. It is less invasive and conserves more lung function
• Pneumonectomy: A procedure to remove an entire lung. There are two types of pneumonectomy procedures:
  • Standard Pneumonectomy: Either the right lung or the left lung is removed in its entirety
  • Extrapleural pneumonectomy: One of the lungs is entirely removed along with part of the diaphragm, the membrane lining the chest cavity and part of the membrane lining the heart
• Wedge resection: Removes a small area of the lung that includes part of one or more lobes

Treatment for lung cancer can also depend on the type of lung cancer. Non-small cell carcinoma is best treated with surgery if possible. Small cell carcinoma is usually treated with chemotherapy. 

How you can help further lung cancer research

ACRF is committed to backing the brilliant ideas needed to find new ways to prevent, detect and treat all types of cancer, so that we can reach our vision of a world without this devastating disease.

ACRF awarded a $1 million grant in 2015 to The University of Queensland (UQ) Thoracic Research Centre and The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane to help establish The ACRF Centre for Lung Cancer Early Detection. The Centre focuses on the discovery and development of innovative methods for early-stage detection of lung cancer. 

ACRF awarded a $2 million grant in 2021 to help establish the The ACRF Lung Cancer Screening Centre of Excellence (LUSCE) at The University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre. The world-first mobile lung cancer multiplatform research facility focused on early detection research for lung cancer – the leading cause of cancer deaths globally.

By donating to ACRF, you are helping to provide scientists with the tools, technology and infrastructure they need to accelerate cancer research. Click here to see donation options or to make a donation today.

Griffith University has launched two cancer research centres backed by $4.6 million in funding from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) this month.

A $2 million grant from the ACRF will fund a transformative compound management platform within the new ACRF Centre for Compound Management and Logistics at Compounds Australia – Australia’s only dedicated compound management facility.

Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD) Director Professor Katherine Andrews said Compounds Australia greatly appreciated the funding that would enhance this critical national research infrastructure and accelerate drug discovery and examination of diseases at the molecular level.

“Compounds Australia curates approximately 1.5 million compounds and natural product extracts and fractions, providing them to researchers in customised, assay-ready microplates for biological screening.

“This facilitates the identification of bioactive compounds with potential to become novel therapeutic candidates and accelerates research into the discovery and validation of new molecular targets.

“With the new equipment we have purchased, GRIDD can now provide one of the world’s first uses of ‘acoustic tube technology’ in an academic facility.”

“This technology allows a step change in existing acoustic liquid handling capabilities which Compounds Australia was first to adopt in 2007, allowing samples to transfer using bursts of sound waves to eject nano litre droplets from tubes to microplates,” Compounds Australia Facility Manager Rebecca Lang explained.

“This will enable a much more precise, efficient and faster automated process for drug development and new compound discoveries to target and fight diseases.”

ACRF CEO Kerry Strydom said the foundation supports pioneering research and seeks to accelerate outcomes.

“The Compounds Australia platform is going to do just that,” Ms Strydom said.

“If you look at the volume of the work that they are doing in terms of servicing the entire drug development community in Australia, it’s just phenomenal.”

In another Australian-first, the Institute for Glycomics has launched the ACRF International Centre for Cancer Glycomics with at $2.6 million ACRF grant, which is dedicated to deciphering the cancer glyco-code.

The centre will enable the Institute’s researchers to determine changes to the glycomics (carbohydrates/sugars) and their interactions with proteins and lipids (molecules that contain hydrocarbons and make up the building blocks of the structure and function of living cells) in a number of cancers.

“Our research will provide major advances in the early diagnosis of significant cancers, including skin, ovarian and breast cancer,” Institute for Glycomics Director Professor Mark von Itzstein AO said.

“This unique facility, with its diverse and multi-disciplinary team of researchers, will underpin the opportunity to better understand the glyco-code and lead to the translation of novel discoveries and clinical outcomes that will improve the lives of countless cancer sufferers around the world.”

Advanced mass spectrometry equipment forms the centrepiece of the ACRF International Centre for Cancer Glycomics, including the Orbitrap Eclipse Tribrid MS and the Hyperion Imaging Mass CyTOF.

“These two state-of-the-art instruments will add to and complement the existing resources and capabilities within the facility, enabling the brightest scientific minds in cancer glycomics research to deep mine the cancer glyco-code down to a single cell level,’’ Professor von Itzstein said.

The goal of the ACRF International Centre for Cancer Glycomics is to identify the glyco-language in cellular states that precede malignant transformation in serum, tissue biopsies and in vivo in a clinical scanner of patients at high risk for cancer as well as those with a malignancy.

The team of glycomics experts will work with surgeons, radiologists, scientists, and high-risk cancer clinics to develop early markers in high-risk cohorts and therapeutics based on inhibition of relevant protein targets.

This article was originally published by Griffith University. ACRF has been backing Griffith University since 2018, providing 6.6 million life-saving funds.

The level of collagen type XII in breast tumours plays an important role in triggering the spread of cancer cells around the body.

Collagen type XII plays a key role in regulating the organisation of the tumour matrix, reveals a new study from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. A team of scientists led by Associate Professor Thomas Cox, Head of the Matrix and Metastasis lab, also discovered that high levels of collagen XII can trigger breast cancer cells to spread from the tumour to other parts of the body, a process known as metastasis.

The tumour microenvironment is the ecosystem that surrounds a tumour, one component of which is the extracellular matrix. Cancer cells constantly interact with the tumour microenvironment, which affects how a tumour grows. Collagen is an important part of this tumour microenvironment, but just how it influences tumours has not been understood.

“There’s still a lot we don’t know about the role of the extracellular matrix in cancer metastasis. Our study shows that collagen XII plays an important role in breast cancer progression and metastasis,” says senior author Associate Professor Thomas Cox.

“Imagine cancer cells as seeds, and the tumour microenvironment as the soil. By studying the soil – the extracellular matrix – we can begin to understand what makes some tumours more aggressive than others, and by extension, begin to develop new ways to treat cancer,” he says.

The research also suggests that measuring the level of collagen XII in a patient’s tumour biopsy could potentially be used as an additional screening tool to identify aggressive breast cancers with higher rates of metastasis, such as in the triple-negative type of breast cancer. Furthermore, collagen XII might be a possible target for future treatments.

Collagen XII alters tumour environment to help cancer cells invade

The extracellular matrix or ‘matrix’ is a 3D meshwork of around 300-400 core molecules, including several collagen proteins. This matrix provides structural and functional support to cells and tissues in all parts of the body.

In this study, the researchers catalogued how the tumour matrix changes over time and have generated a comprehensive database of these changes, which has been made freely available to researchers.

The team zeroed in on collagen XII, one of 28 types of collagen in the body. Collagen XII plays an important role in organising other collagens and can have profound effects on the 3D structure of the extracellular matrix.

The researchers studied tumours in mouse models from the earliest pre-clinical stages of cancer, right through to late-stage tumours. They found that as the tumours developed, many matrix molecules changed, and importantly the level of collagen XII was also increased.

“Collagen XII seems to be altering the properties of the tumour and makes it more aggressive,” says first author Michael Papanicolaou, from Garvan. “It changes how collagens are organised to support cancer cells escaping from the tumour and moving to other sites like the lungs.”

The team then used genetic engineering to manipulate production of collagen XII, and looked at the effects of metastasis to other organs. They found that as levels of collagen XII increased, so did metastasis. These findings were then confirmed in human tumour biopsies, which showed that high levels of collagen XII are associated with higher metastasis and poorer overall survival rates.

Further research will focus on studying more human samples, and investigating possible therapeutic pathways.

This article was originally published on Mirage. This game-changing program was supported by the ACRF Centre of Intravital Imaging of Niches – enabled by a $3million grant from ACRF to Garvan Institute of Medical Research in 2020.

Donating a dollar out of their pay each week, RSL employees have accumulated more than $60,000 over the past decade for ACRF.

Human resource manager, Rebecca Zaia, was contacted by ACRF, to say that they have been fortunate enough to purchase a new machine thanks to the Dubbo RSL donations. “This will greatly help them with further cancer research and assist with finding cures for some types of cancers,” Ms Zaia said.

Every employee who has donated has been touched by cancer in some way, she added. “Normally I change the organisation every few years, but with everything that has been happening we decided to stick with them (ACRF).”

Over the past five years the business and community have encountered many unfortunate events, she added. “It started with the drought, then the dust storms, the mouse plague, floods, and Covid.”

After numerous lockdowns, shutdowns, vaccinations, and proof of vaccinations, the RSL is currently dealing with the worst staffing issues in their history. “Then I see something like this – what amazing, kind and gentle people we have working in our club,” Ms Zaia shared.

With the cost of living rising, she is grateful people are still donating to worthy causes, and thanked everyone who has donated. “While it is endorsed by the club and we help to distribute the money – it is not forced.”

Bistro attendant Josie Wheeler has been working and donating at the RSL club for 23 years. “My father died of cancer, and I always thought that it was a good cause and, unfortunately, it is a very common sickness,” Ms Wheeler told Dubbo Photo News. “It’s only a dollar out of our pay which doesn’t seem much individually, but it adds up.”

Bistro attendant Courtney Farrell thanked the club for giving employees the opportunity to donate to causes without the pressure. “It’s a nice thing that the club offered us to do, and we really don’t notice (the dollar a week donation),” Ms Farrell shared.

“It has for several years been my vision to do something on a grander scale and to attract a mixed demographic of age groups. I feel so fortunate that Carmen who has such an eye for detail and decoration, jumped on board with this idea also. We were both so very pleased with how the night went and we have had so much incredible feedback.”, said Julie Francis, chief event organiser.

“Whilst it’s so lovely to be acknowledged, the most important thing for us was to raise as much awareness and funding for ACRF….and our night we feel has introduced a new generation of people to backing brilliant.”

With generous contributions from people volunteering their time to cook, prepare, serve, MC, sing and play in the band together with sponsors for raffle prizes, a wine wall and the venue itself, the Hobart community rallied to produce a memorable evening.

Gillian Groom AO, who has been involved in the Hobart Cancerians group since its inception in the late 1980’s and served as President since 2006, said “Recognising the youth and vigour Julie and Carmen had brought to the committee, we decided to give them carte blanche to organise a gala event. The rest is now history! Julie and Carmen work beautifully together not to mention various family members that are roped in to help. Carmen’s husband Rainer deserves a special accolade. He single handedly served a superb carvery dinner to over 80 people…”

Carmen’s son Fabian and Julie’s daughter Sophie added even more to an already proud moment by them being part of our night. Sophie said she would like to gather a table of her friends next time…

Carmen reflected “Julie and I are still in awe of our little community down here in Tassie… a little community with a big heart! Everyone has been so generous with both their time and their donations, and we love them for it!”

Kerry Strydom, ACRF CEO, said “It was my privilege to be a small part of this event to share the impact of the Hobart Cancerian Committee’s contribution to advancing cancer research. Their ongoing activities and influence continue to generate support, and spending time with such a remarkable group was inspiring. Thank you all so very much.”

A gift in Will, also known as a bequest, is the donation you make when you include a portion of your estate to a charity in your Will.

What is the difference between Will and bequest?

A Will allows you to make a gift of any possessions and money you leave behind to organisations or beneficiaries of your choosing. This kind of gift is known as a bequest. A bequest to ACRF helps to arm our researchers with the tools and equipment they need to find new and improved ways to prevent, detect and treat ALL types of cancer.

Types of Bequests include:

• A specific sum of money or nominated asset such as a house or other land, shares and other investments, life insurance, works of art or other valuables.
• A bequest of your entire estate, or a specified share or percentage,, after all debts and expenses have been paid.
• A residual bequest, or a specified share or percentage of your residuary estate, after all debts and expenses have been paid, and other gifts distributed.
• Your property, such as a house, can pass to ACRF after having been used or occupied by a primary beneficiary during their lifetime. ACRF would receive this only after a specified period or after the nominated person has passed.

What is a class Gift in Will?

A class gift is a gift that is distributed to a group of beneficiaries rather than to individuals. The members may change by the time the property is distributed — some may have been born into the group and some may have died. However, the members living at the time of the property distribution will have a right of survivorship, so if members of the group die before the gift is distributed, then their portion is distributed equally among the surviving members. 

What is a specific gift in Will?

A specific gift is leaving a particular item of property that you own to your nominated beneficiary.

Specific gifts are used when you would like to nominate a person or persons, to receive a particular piece of property from your Estate. When leaving a gift of this type, you are required to have owned this property at the time of drafting the Will. 

What is a conditional Gift in a Will?

A conditional gift in a Will is a provision that distributes money or property to a person but only if an event takes place. For example, you might for example leave $10,000 to a grandchild but only if they graduate university.

A conditional gift such as leaving something to someone once they reach a certain age is relatively straightforward.

How to leave a Gift in Will 

Including a gift in your Will is simple, and if you choose a charity like ACRF, there is a dedicated team to help you every step of the way. The steps of leaving a gift in your Will include:

Step 1: Contact the charity you would like to leave a gift in Will to discuss any questions you may have about doing so.

Step 2: Call your solicitor and make an appointment to create or update your Will to include a bequest.

Step 3: Based on the call with your solicitor, update the wording of your Will. Please see ACRF’s Will wording below as an example:

“I give to the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACN 002 774 727) of Suite 903, 50 Margaret Street, Sydney for the purposes of funding world-class cancer research, free from all taxes and duties, (here please specify your gift, eg. the sum of $X). I direct that the receipt of any director or other proper officer for the time being of that Foundation will be a sufficient discharge to my Trustees”

Step 4: Tell your loved ones what you have outlined in your Will. It’s important they are aware of your wishes. If you decide to include a bequest to ACRF, let us know as we’d love to connect over your generous donation, and find out if there’s anything we can do to support you.

Your Gift in Will can save lives

ACRF bequestors have backed landmark projects, such as the development of the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine. The vaccine protects against nine HPV types which are the cause of around 90% of cervical cancers in women. Now decades on, and thanks to a national immunisation program, Australia is set to be the first country to effectively eliminate the disease.

Your gift will go toward ensuring that future generations have better access to life-saving cancer detection, prevention and treatment.

If you’d like to learn more, see How to Leave a Gift to Charity in Your Will. 

References: 

https://www.tag.nsw.gov.au/wills/make-will/what-will

A team of scientists from Australia and the UK has produced the largest database of its type which will be used to predict the response of an individual patients to treatments based on the protein of the cancer.

A paper published today in the leading international cancer journal, CANCER CELL, lays the foundation for ongoing efforts to predict the response of an individual cancer to treatments based on the proteins the cancer contains. These data will also inform the development of new treatments.

Two research teams, one at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, and another at Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Sydney, Australia are jointly announcing the completion of a protein map for 949 cancers of many types grown in the laboratory as cancer cell lines which have been tested with 650 different treatments, and the advanced computational methods they have used to predict the response of cancer cells to treatment.

Every cell in the body contains thousands of different proteins (collectively referred to as the “proteome”), which are responsible for most of the functions of life, such as the behaviour of cancer cells and how they respond to treatment. It has been known by clinical cancer specialists for many decades that for some types of cancer measuring the quantities of a few specific proteins can help guide the choice of the most appropriate treatment. But methods for measuring the thousands of other types of proteins were not readily available for clinical use.

CMRI’s ProCan® team (also known as the Australian Cancer Research Foundation International Centre for the Proteome of Human Cancer) has developed a high-throughput workflow using mass spectrometry to measure thousands of different proteins in very large numbers of cancers. Using this methodology and 10,000 hours of mass spectrometry instrument time, they have generated a proteomic database for the 949 cancer cell lines grown by the Sanger team, who analysed the response of each cell line to up to 650 different drugs, and who have previously deeply analysed the genes (the “genome”) and other key molecules in these cancer lines.

In contrast to clinical trials which can each test only one treatment or treatment combination, there is no limit to the number of drugs that can be tested on cancer cell cultures in the laboratory. Generating data regarding the response of such a large number of cancer cell lines to 650 drugs, and their comprehensive molecular analysis, has required a major investment of resources and effort over many years by the team of Wellcome Sanger Institute researchers led by Dr Mathew Garnett.

Data scientists from the CMRI and Sanger teams worked together to analyse the results with advanced computational methods, developing a new deep learning technique to use proteomic data to predict the response of the cancer cells to treatment. The results also pinpoint vulnerabilities in cancer cells that provide opportunities for developing new treatments.

Professor Roger Reddel, a senior author of the study and a co-founder of ProCan, said “This study has been a collaborative team effort involving proteomics experts, software engineers, data scientists, cancer cell biologists, and oncology researchers that has resulted in important new insights into the interactions among thousands of key molecules within cancer cells, and the response of cancer cells to drug treatments. It is a major step towards ProCan’s goal of using proteogenomic data to help clinicians choose the best treatment for individual cancer patients.”

The cancer database, which is of unprecedented size for this type of data, is now being made available as a resource for cancer researchers and clinicians around the world. The work at ProCan was done under the auspices of a Memorandum of Understanding between CMRI and the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s International Cancer Proteogenomics Consortium (ICPC), that encourages cooperation among institutions and nations in proteogenomic cancer research in which datasets are made available to the public.  Dr Mathew Garnett (WSI), also a senior author, said “In addition to revealing new insights about the biology of cancer, this study is also helping to fulfil the mission of my team to generate reference datasets for widespread use in the international cancer research community. This proteomic map will contribute to our Cancer Dependency Map1 – an effort to systematically identify vulnerabilities in cancer cells to guide drug development.”   

This article was originally published by Scimex. ACRF has backed $12 million of brilliant research at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI).

Researchers at Garvan have identified a potential therapy that may improve how effectively chemotherapy targets neuroblastomas.

A study led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has revealed a potential approach to improve outcomes for neuroblastoma, a rare but often aggressive cancer that is usually diagnosed in children under five years of age.

The team identified three microRNAs, short molecules of genetic material that turn off genes, which sensitised neuroblastoma cells to chemotherapy while leaving normal cell types unharmed.

If successful in further preclinical studies and clinical trials, these microRNAs may help make chemotherapy more effective for neuroblastoma patients.

“High-dose chemotherapy is part of the standard treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma, but there is a narrow window between efficacy and toxicity to the patient. These microRNAs may help open that window up,” says Garvan Lab Head Associate Professor Alex Swarbrick, senior author of the research published in the journal Molecular Therapy.

Potential strategy to improve chemotherapy

Improved treatment options for neuroblastoma are urgently needed. One in two children with an aggressive form of the disease pass away, with survivors often affected by chronic side effects following therapy. 

“High-dose chemotherapy can have significant side effects, especially in children. Our research has focused on finding a way to more effectively target a tumour with chemotherapy but that doesn’t impact normal cell types, so that the dosage given to patients can be reduced.”

Unlike adult cancers that are driven by mutations accumulated over a lifetime, early childhood cancers are instead often driven by changes in the genetic programs that control development.

“MicroRNAs are key regulators of development – they target different locations across the genome to ‘tune’ genetic systems. We tested 1,200 microRNAs for their effect on neuroblastoma cells,” explains first author Dr Holly Holliday.

“We identified three microRNAs that were potent chemosensitisers, meaning they enhanced the effects of chemotherapy on neuroblastoma cells without being toxic to other cell types. These microRNAs targeted a number of genes that are essential to neuroblastoma survival, which we verified in mouse models. By looking at prior studies, we also found they were often absent in patients that had a particularly poor prognosis,” Dr Holliday says.

“Together, this leads us to believe that restoring the function of these microRNAs by administering them to patients may be a valuable therapeutic strategy for neuroblastoma,” adds Associate Professor Swarbrick.

The next steps in this research will be to move to comprehensive preclinical studies, followed by clinical trials.

“We hope that this feasibility study will ultimately help improve treatments – getting a better hit on the cancer while dialling back the toxicity to the patient,” he says.

This article was originally published by Garvan Institute of Medical Research. ACRF has been backing Garvan since 2003, providing over $15 million in funding to enable cutting edge research programs. The ACRF Centre for Intravital Imaging of Niches for Cancer Immune Therapy (INCITe) officially opened at Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research in June of 2022.

The game-changing cancer research program was enabled by a $3 million grant awarded by ACRF to Garvan Institute in 2020, a contribution only possible thanks to the generosity of ACRF’s supporters. The program will work to address a major challenge in the treatment of cancer: why some patients have a remarkable clinical response to cancer immunotherapies, while other patients do not respond. Learn more here.

Researchers are recruiting volunteers for a clinical trial they hope will improve survival rates for an aggressive form of breast cancer that affects about 1,500 women each year in New South Wales.

NSW researchers are calling for volunteers for a new clinical trial to test a new strategy in cancer treatment: using a new therapy to target a ‘defence switch’ on cancer cells that alerts cancer to the threat of chemotherapy.

The trial aims to improve survival rates for patients with triple negative breast cancer, a treatment-resistant form of cancer that can quickly adapt against chemotherapy.

It will be led by Associate Professor Christine Chaffer and Dr Beatriz San Juan from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, and Senior Staff Specialist in medical oncology Dr Rachel Dear of St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney. The trial will be conducted at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre in Darlinghurst.

The research leading to the trial has been supported by the NELUNE Foundation, which awarded Associate Professor Chaffer with the Rebecca Wilson Fellowship in Cancer Research in 2017 enabling her to bring her research back to Sydney from the USA. The Fellowship is a lasting legacy to sports journalist the late Rebecca Wilson.

“Triple negative breast cancer is an aggressive disease with a greater likelihood of spreading around the body and recurring within five years than other breast cancers.

“In preclinical studies, we found that an experimental drug, seviteronel, combined with chemotherapy, could be twice as effective in reducing the size of tumours than chemotherapy alone,” says Associate Professor Chaffer.

Androgen hormones tell triple negative breast cancer to adapt against chemotherapy and to behave aggressively. Seviteronel works by blocking these warning signals and potentially makes other treatments more effective.

Dr Dear, says “this is an exciting opportunity to test a new treatment option for metastatic triple negative breast cancer, for which there is currently a gap in effective drug treatments.”

Seviteronel is not currently approved for clinical use. If this trial is successful, it will be followed by a larger safety study within a year.

New approach for triple negative breast cancer

About 10-15% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed as triple negative breast cancer, which means the cancer cells lack all three receptors that doctors can target with cancer-treating medications. As there are currently no effective targeted therapies, triple negative breast cancers have a poorer prognosis compared to other forms of breast cancer.

Research from Associate Professor Chaffer’s team revealed that triple negative cancer cells ‘switch’ their cell state in response to chemotherapy, which not only makes the cancer cells more aggressive, but also allows them to evade treatment.

“We found that chemotherapy triggers a cell change in cancer cells that enables them to build a defence against the chemotherapy. This means that a different type of cancer cell emerges after treatment, which has become resistant to the chemotherapy and is a major cause of cancer relapse,” Associate Professor Chaffer explains.

“We aim to put a stop to this cancer resistance strategy to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy for triple negative breast tumours”.

Dr Beatriz Perez San Juan, the post-doctoral researcher in Associate Professor Chaffer’s lab who led the preclinical study, discovered that activation of androgen receptors in breast cancer cells triggers the cell state switching. Androgens are commonly thought of as male sex hormones but are also found at lower levels in women.

In preclinical models of triple negative breast cancer, the researchers administered chemotherapy together with seviteronel, an experimental treatment that blocks androgen production. The combination approach caused a 70% to 100% greater reduction in tumour size, compared to chemotherapy alone. This strategy prevented the emergence of chemotherapy-resistant cells and reduced the spread of the cancer around the body.

Repurposing an experimental treatment

Seviteronel was originally developed as a standalone therapy for breast and prostate cancers that carry the androgen receptor and was proven safe for patients in Phase II clinical trials.

“Our research has revealed that seviteronel may be far more beneficial as an adjunct therapy. We found that androgen inhibition blocks cancer cell state switching, ‘locking’ cancer cells in a chemotherapy-sensitive state. This is why chemotherapy plus seviteronel treatment was more effective than chemotherapy alone at targeting cancer in our preclinical studies,” says Dr Perez San Juan.

“We hope that this new combination treatment approach will drastically reduce drug resistance to improve the effectiveness of standard-of-care chemotherapy and, ultimately, improve outcomes for patients.”

This article was originally published by Garvan Institute of Medical Research. ACRF has been backing Garvan since 2003, providing over $15 million in funding to enable cutting edge research programs.

Cancer is a disease of the cells. Cells divide and form new cells constantly throughout the body to replace old, or dead cells. Usually, cells divide and grow normally and will stop growing when they need to. Cancer starts when a cell becomes abnormal and grows and multiplies in an uncontrolled way.

The types of cancers that occur in children can be different from those that occur in adults. Childhood cancers:

• can look different under the microscope
• start in different parts of the body 
• are treated differently
• respond differently to treatment. 

Children often respond better to treatment than adults. This could be because:

• the cancer itself is different
• children may get more intense treatments
• children don’t have any other health problems, or comorbidities (other health conditions), like many adults do

How many childhood cancers are there?

The types of cancers that affect children are usually different to the cancers that affect adults.

There are many forms of childhood cancers which tend to affect fast-growing tissues such as blood, lymph, bone marrow, nervous tissues, muscles, kidney, liver, and bone.

The most common childhood cancer types are; bone tumours, brain and other central nervous system tumours, germ cell tumours, Hodgkin lymphoma (Hodgkin disease), kidney (renal) tumours, leukaemia, liver tumours, melanoma, neuroblastoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, retinoblastoma and, soft tissue sarcoma. Read more about childhood cancer types here.

Are there specific symptoms to help you identify childhood cancer? 

Childhood cancer can often take longer to diagnose due to the symptoms being very similar to other medical conditions, including common infections. Because of this, children may need to undergo a variety of common tests to diagnose the cancer.

Specific symptoms to help identify childhood cancer include:

• easy bruising, or bruising that doesn’t go away
• an unusual lump, bump or swelling
• unexplained paleness, tiredness, loss of energy and loss of interest
• pain in one area of the body that doesn’t go away
• limping or difficulties moving around
• unexplained fever or illness that doesn’t go away
• frequent headaches, often with nausea or vomiting
• visual changes, such as blurred vision
• lack of balance or direction when walking, that doesn’t go away
• unexplained weight loss

If a child presents these symptoms, it does not mean they have cancer although if these symptoms don’t go away quickly, it is important to have a check-up with a doctor. 

What are the treatments for childhood cancer?

Treatment for childhood cancer depends on what type of cancer a child has been diagnosed with. When deciding treatment options, the side effects and potential risks, as well as the length of treatment, are also considered. A multidisciplinary team of health professionals are involved in planning and executing a child’s treatment.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy destroys or slows the growth of cancer cells through the use of specialised medicines. These medicines target fast-growing cells, which include cancer cells. There are many different types of chemotherapy medicines, however most children have combinations of different ones. This is to prevent the cancer cells becoming resistant to the medicines.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy, also known as radiotherapy, uses radiation to kill or damage cancer cells. Doctors who specialise in radiation therapy for children will give the treatment to your child. These doctors are called paediatric radiation oncologists and follow international practice.

Infants and young children can have radiation therapy although chemotherapy is preferred. Radiation therapy is mainly used for older children or as an option after chemotherapy, if the cancer returns.

Stem cell transplant

A stem cell transplant is also known as a bone marrow transplant. A child’s doctor may recommend this treatment if the child has a blood cancer such as leukaemia, lymphoma, or high-risk neuroblastoma. Stem cell transplants involve destroying all the blood-forming cells in the child’s bone marrow, including cancer cells. The blood-forming cells are then replaced with healthy stem cells. These stem cells develop into new bone marrow and produce healthy blood cells.

Surgery

Surgery is one of the main treatments for childhood cancer. Doctors will usually only perform surgery for cancers that involve a lump or tumour. Surgery to remove a tumour involves making an incision in the skin. The doctor will remove as much of the tumour as possible. Minimally invasive surgery (also called keyhole surgery) can be used to help make a diagnosis and for treatment.

Can you prevent childhood cancer? 

It is not always clear why some children develop cancer, and others do not. In most cases, it is unknown as to why children get cancer and there is usually no form of prevention.

Sometimes tumours develop as a result of a genetic error which occurs while a child’s body is growing, and sometimes childhood cancers are genetic. Some children are born with genetic conditions that increase their chance of getting certain cancers, however this does not mean they will develop cancer. 

How can you help further research into childhood cancer? 

Making a donation is one of the best ways to help accelerate research and ultimately, transform the prevention, detection and treatment of childhood cancer.

Thanks to donations from our generous supporters, ACRF was able to award a $3.5 million grant to the Children’s Cancer Institute (CCI) in Sydney to establish the ACRF Child Cancer Liquid Biopsy Program. Currently, children with cancer must endure tumour biopsy – a painful and invasive procedure that provides limited information about the different types of cancer cells in the tumour at a point in time. This program will help develop a more sensitive and less invasive type of sampling, based on a child’s blood or lymph fluid – a game-changer for children diagnosed with cancer, and their families. Read more about the grant here.

Donate Today to help ACRF back brilliant cancer research

ACRF is committed to backing the brilliant ideas needed to find new ways to prevent, detect and treat all types of cancer, including childhood cancer, so that we can reach our vision of a world without this devastating disease.

By donating to ACRF, you are helping to provide scientists with the tools, technology and infrastructure they need to accelerate cancer research. Click here to see donation options or make a donation today.

Sources:

• Children’s Cancer | Cancer Australia

Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) has launched its inaugural 2km A Day in May challenge, encouraging Australians to get active each day to raise vital funds for life-saving cancer research.

2km A Day in May runs for the entire month of May, aiming to raise $250,000. This fun campaign, encourages people to get outdoors, live a healthy lifestyle and exercise. Whether that’s walking with friends or your pooch, running or cycling as long as you get active for at least 2km per day.

ACRF’s CEO, Kerry Strydom said, Australian Cancer Research Foundation backs brilliant cancer research and cutting-edge technology that drives innovation and ultimately – helps to save millions of lives.

“Fundraising campaigns such as ‘2km A Day in May’ helps us raise essential funds that allows us to back cancer research projects that push boundaries and blaze new trails,” said Kerry. “We’re encouraging all Aussies to get behind this new initiative, it’s a fun campaign that you can do with friends or on your own. Together we can unite as a community, raise vital funds that bring us closer to a world without cancer.” Participants can register or donate to 2km a Day in May here.