ProCan
Transforming diagnosis and treatment for all cancers
Raya, pictured with mum Grace, was diagnosed with leukaemia at just 4 years old. After 5 months of high-level chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, she was declared 'cancer-free'. But she will have side-effects for the rest of her life.
“Chemotherapy and radiation are VERY harsh treatments given to young children,” Grace says. “The long-term effects are absolutely devastating.
"You save your daughter’s life, but it comes with a ransom. She will be monitored her whole life and will have lifelong issues. It is heart breaking.
"Better medical treatment, I hope, will bring less aggressive treatment."
ProCan aims to provide more personalised, gentler and more effective treatments through precision medicine. This means better outcomes in the future for millions more children like Raya—and for adults, no matter what type of cancer.
Global Scale
ProCan has over 140 active research collaborations worldwide and has leveraged an additional $40 million in funding, following ACRF's $10m initial investment. Thanks to this support, ProCan has created the world’s largest pan-cancer database of proteomes and clinical data, advancing knowledge for all types of solid tumours, resulting in the ability better diagnose cancers and predict outcomes of treatment. This means earlier detection and personalised, effective decision-making for clinicians to help save the lives of both children and adults impacted by cancer.
Predicting the future
Their most recent discovery tackles pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA), an aggressive malignancy that, until now, lacked reliable biomarkers to guide treatment decisions. ProCan has discovered 18 biomarkers, allowing them to classify PDA into four prognostic subtypes and provide a risk score, which could improve survival prediction and guide personalised treatment.
ProCan is also speeding up research into new and better treatments for all cancer types, with fewer side effects. This means improved quality of life for cancer survivors and more treatment options.
Included in the next phase of ProCan's research is the capability to analyse liquid biopsies and add non-solid tumours, like leukaemia into its database, which could help children like Raya who, although a cancer survivor, will suffer lifelong side-effects from her treatment.
With ProCan incorporating multi-omic information—DNA (genome), RNA (transcriptome), protein (ptoteome)— and clinical data at a scale never before seen, it may one day become the new standard for cancer diagnosis and decision-making. This means a better future for children like Raya.
ProCan's path to impact
Goal: The most effective treatment, first time, for any type of cancer, no matter where you are in the world.
