$14.5 MILLION FOR CANCER RESEARCH

Author:

Verity Firth

STATE PLAN TARGET S2: Reduce the number of potentially avoidable deaths for people under 75 to 150 per 100,000 people by 2016.

Local cancer researchers are set to share in grants collectively worth $14.5 million.

Assistant Health Minister (Cancer) Verity Firth said the search for the gene that increases a person's chance of developing bowel cancer; trials of new anti-cancer drugs; and development of better treatments for childhood cancers, are just a few of the research projects receiving much needed funding from the NSW Government.

"All up, twenty-six cancer researchers have been awarded grants of up to $600,000 - money that will allow them to continue their promising research into a disease which remains the single biggest cause of premature death in NSW," said Ms Firth.

"A vital element of the NSW Government's long term efforts to end the suffering caused by cancer, particularly the types most common to NSW such as melanoma and bowel cancer, is a greater investment in medical research.

"The $14.5 million in research grants I'm announcement today will help keep NSW at the forefront of international efforts to better understand, prevent and treat cancers.

"As well as giving hope to sufferers and ultimately saving lives, these financial grants are part of a broader strategy to make NSW a magnet for scientific endeavour and home to world leading medical researchers."

Over the past decade, better biological drugs, new surgical techniques, more effective early detection, falling smoking rates and record health budgets have improved survival rates and reduced cancer deaths.

"In fact according to landmark report released early this year, there are very few places in the world where a person's chances of beating cancer are as high as they are in NSW," said Ms Firth.

Since 1995, cancer death rates have fallen by 13 per cent - meaning about 8,000 people are alive today that otherwise would not have been.

"But despite the very real progress we have made, cancer will affect the health of one in two men and one in three women," said Ms Firth.

"Each year more than 12,000 NSW families lose a loved one to cancer.

"When it comes to the fight against cancer governments can and must do more."

Since establishing the Cancer Institute in 2004, the NSW Government has invested almost $34 million supporting the work of local researchers.

The NSW Government has committed a further $97 million over the next four years to support cancer research and by 2010 aims to have 10 per cent of all new cancer cases participating in clinical trials.

Some recent breakthrough that had received financial support from the NSW Government:

A new dye which can quickly determine if cancer treatments are actually destroying cancer cells is undergoing trials after promising early results. This breakthrough was made by NSW researcher Professor Phil Hogg and supported with $3.7 million from the NSW Government. The benefits should be shorter and more effective cancer treatments for patients.

A tiny chemical ‘tag' on a critical gene passed from parent to child was discovered by Sydney medical oncologist Professor Robyn Ward. Her discovery will have major implications for families where the cause of cancer cannot be explained by current genetic tests. The NSW Government has contributed more than $4 million toward cancer research activities undertaken by Professor Ward.

A new genetic marker for identifying aggressive prostate cancers has been discovered by researcher Professor Susan Clark and her team at Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Professor Clark's research was made possible with $3.7 million of NSW Government funding for cancer research. The discovery should lead to more effective treatment for patients with aggressive prostate cancer.

Cancer Institute NSW - Research Scholar Awards 2007
Recipient	Institution	Research Project
Dr Emily Blyth (Durrant)	University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital and Children's Hospital	Clinical therapy: improving bone marrow transplants.
Dr Sebastian Haferkamp	University of Sydney	Laboratory: researching melanoma genes.
Miss Penny Ho	Kolling Institute of Medical Research	Laboratory: researching how breast cancer genes affect prognosis.
Ms Elja Lehtomaki	University of Sydney	Laboratory: understanding how cancer starts.
Mr Gang Lu	University of Sydney	Laboratory: researching the chemical pathways inside cancer cells in order to discover new ways to treat cancer.
Dr Ann McCormack	University of Sydney and Kolling Institute of Medical Research	Laboratory: researching chemicals which can control genes in endocrine cancers.
Ms Heather McKenzie	University of Sydney	Laboratory: researching melanoma genes.
Miss Inga Mertens	University of Sydney	Laboratory: researching ways to control ovarian cancer.
Dr Goswin Meyer-Rochow	Kolling Institute of Medical Research	Laboratory: researching genes in adrenal cancer.
Mrs Dessislava Mladenova	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Clinical therapy: prevention of bowel cancer.
Miss Cindy Pon	Kolling Institute of Medical Research	Laboratory: researching breast cancer growth.
Ms Federica Saletta	University of Sydney	Clinical therapy: anti-cancer drugs.
Miss Jessica Selwyn	Centenary Institute, Royal Prince Alfred and University of Sydney	Laboratory: understanding how cancer starts.
Mr Aaron Statham	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Laboratory: research into chemicals that control cancer genes.
Miss Santi Suryani	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Lab/Clinical: bone marrow transplants.
Ms Elizabeth Tindall	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Lab/Clinical: advancing research into prostate cancer.
Dr Jason Tseung	Concord Repatriation General Hospital	Lab/Clinical: research into the control of bowel cancer.
Miss Yu Yu	University of Sydney	Therapy: new anti-cancer drugs.

Cancer Institute NSW - Career Development and Support Fellowships 2007
Recipient	Institution	Research Project
Dr Linda Bendall	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Research into treatment of leukaemia.
Dr Andrew Biankin	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Research into predicting the prognosis of pancreatic cancer.
Dr Tracy Bryan	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Understanding the causes of cancer.
Dr Scott Byrne	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Understanding cancer growth.
Dr Vanessa Hayes	Westmead Institute for Cancer Research	Understanding the role of genes in prostate cancer.
Dr Susan Henshall	Kolling Institute of Medical Research	Identifying protein markers of prostate cancer.
Dr Megan Hitchins	University of Newcastle	Understanding cancer in families.
Dr Maja Kohonen-Coris	Children's Cancer Institute Australia	Identifying cell chemicals that cause the growth of bowel cancer.
Dr Tao Liu	Children's Medical Research Institute	Treatment of childhood cancers.
A/Prof Karen MacKenzie	University of Sydney	Understanding the growth of cancer.
Dr Megan Maher	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Understanding cancer therapy.
Dr Deborah Marsh	University of Sydney	Research into genes in cancers of the endocrine system.
Dr Elizabeth Musgrove	National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research	Research into hormone-dependent breast cancer growth.
Dr Helen Rizos	Children's Cancer Institute Australia	Research into melanoma growth.
Dr Rick Thorne	Westmead Millennium Institute	Research into melanoma growth.
Dr Claire Vajdic	University of Newcastle	Identifying cancer risks in the population.
Dr Zhang Xu Dong	Garvan Institute of Medical Research	Research into melanoma therapy.

Cancer Institute NSW - Research Leaders 2007
Recipient	Institution	Research Project
Prof Ariel Ruiz	Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology	Understanding early initiation of cancer.

Attachment	Size
071129 - Cancer Research Grants.doc	99.5 KB

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$14.5 MILLION FOR CANCER RESEARCH

STATE PLAN TARGET S2: Reduce the number of potentially avoidable deaths for people under 75 to 150 per 100,000 people by 2016.