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Advancing cancer detection and treatment

Conjoint Associate Professor Clare Stirzaker from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and UNSW Medicine & Health received $488,116.40 for .

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women in Australia and the second most common cause of cancer-related death in women. While most breast cancer patients are successfully treated through their first line of treatment, up to 30% of patients relapse and the cancer returns.

The project aims to develop an accurate and sensitive test that can detect breast cancer in blood, also known as a liquid biopsy. This non-invasive approach to monitoring should help earlier detection of relapse in breast cancer patients.

“The real advantage of our approach is that epigenetic changes like DNA methylation are a defining feature of cancer and can provide a breast cancer-specific signature,” said A/Prof. Stirzaker.

“By detecting cancer DNA fragments circulating in blood, we aim to create an epigenetic test that works for all breast cancer patients, potentially detecting recurrence months earlier than current methods. This could ultimately allow for earlier treatment and better outcomes.”

Conjoint Associate Professor Belamy Cheung from Children’s Cancer Institute and UNSW Medicine & Health received $488,618.90 for .

Brain cancers are one of the most common causes of death in Australians aged 25 and under. Unfortunately, there is a lack of effective drugs for childhood brain tumours, and an urgent need to identify new therapies.

High levels of specific proteins, known as c-Myc and MYCN oncoproteins, are associated with poorer outcomes in childhood brain tumours. The project will investigate a number of novel compounds that improve the efficacy of cancer-fighting drugs, known as HDAC inhibitors, which target these high levels of oncoproteins.

“This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of this novel treatment strategy and generate the critical evidence needed to support a follow-on international clinical trial for childhood brain cancers,” said A/Prof. Cheung.

“By combining this new approach with existing therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, we hope to significantly improve outcomes for children living with brain cancer.”

Conjoint Associate Professor David Croucher from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and UNSW Medicine & Health received $445,226.00 for .

Neuroblastoma is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in children under the age of five. Approximately 50% of children with neuroblastoma have an aggressive type called high-risk neuroblastoma, which has low survival rates.

The project aims to assess the efficacy of a specific HDAC inhibitor drug, Belinostat, in advanced models and provide the evidence needed for a follow-on clinical trial in high-risk neuroblastoma.

“If successful, a follow-on clinical trial could provide a new treatment strategy to improve outcomes for children with high-risk neuroblastoma,” A/Prof. Croucher said. “As Belinostat is already approved for use in other cancers, such as lymphoma, repurposing this drug should enable rapid implementation into clinical practice.”

Professor John Pimanda from the School of Biomedical Sciences at UNSW Medicine & Health received $450,000.00 for .

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a type of blood cancer with a low survival rate. Chemotherapy is only effective in approximately 50% of patients, and unfortunately, many people who initially respond later relapse.

Prof. Pimanda and his team have discovered key differences in the cancer cells between patients who respond to chemotherapy and those who don’t. The project aims to develop a test that can predict whether the chemotherapy will likely be effective for each CMML patient and identify new targets for therapies in the future.

“As chemotherapy can have significant negative side effects, developing a test that can predict the efficacy of treatment would enable clinicians and patients to make more informed choices about treatment options,” Prof. Pimanda said.

Associate Professor Orazio Vittorio from the School of Biomedical Sciences at UNSW Medicine & Health received $435,231.50 for .

Diffuse-Intrinsic-Pontine-Glioma (DIPG) is a rare and highly aggressive type of brain cancer that typically affects children between five and seven years old. Unfortunately, DIPG has no effective treatments.

Research in animal models has previously shown that brain cancers ‘feed’ on copper, and that using non-toxic drugs (non-chemotherapy drugs) to reduce copper levels can kill cancer cells. The project aims to investigate why these tumours depend on copper and further develop a copper-reducing therapy as a new treatment for children with DIPG.

“This research should help us to better understand the biology of these aggressive brain tumours and enable the development of novel drugs that could be used to treat DIPG,” A/Prof. Vittorio said. “If successful, this research could lead to the development of the first effective treatment for children with DIPG which would significantly improve their survival rates.”