Two Victorian cancer researchers will share in $2.1 million in funding to develop new treatments for the children’s cancers, including brain, bone and soft tissue cancers that are among the hardest to treat.
The funding will be delivered through a state-backed program and was announced on Sunday, June 29.
Monash University’s Dr Azimi will develop models of medulloblastoma – the most common paediatric brain tumour – to efficiently and accurately test potential treatments.
Hudson Institute of Medical Research’s professor Firestein will receive funding to profile 50 additional paediatric cancer cell lines and using artificial intelligence will work to discover new treatments.
Every year, more than 1000 children and adolescents in Australia are diagnosed with cancer and more than 100 of these patients tragically lose their lives.
Cancer treatments designed for adults can be ineffective and harmful when used on children.
Advances in medical research have seen the survival rate for paediatric cancer recently rise to over 80 per cent. Unfortunately, some cancers have far lower survival rates.
The state’s Next-Generation Therapies Program is aimed at developing cutting-edge therapies specifically for these paediatric cancers, to ensure survival rates continue to rise for young cancer patients.
Growth and Jobs Minister Danny Pearson said that “fighting childhood cancer is a battle no family should have to face – but it’s a terrifying reality for hundreds of kids every year.”
“This program will support our world-class researchers to deliver new life-saving treatments to give kids the best chance to grow up healthy and cancer-free,” Mr Pearson said.
Children’s Cancer CoLab chief executive officer Dr Udani Reets said new therapies are “urgently needed for children with high-risk cancers and it’s essential to support a critical mass of brilliant researchers capable of making these discoveries.”
