Cancer Council Research into Brain Cancer
Cancer Council NSW has made brain cancer one of our five priority cancers because of its poor prognosis and need for better treatments. Over the last 5 years, Cancer Council NSW has funded over $8.1 million in brain cancer research.
This research is focused on the diagnosis and treatment of this deadly condition. It has included a number of exciting projects, including:
- development of new drug targets and treatments,
- nation-wide and multi-state collaborations to improve research, and
- better understanding of the cause and progression of brain cancer.
Revolutionary new treatment for brain and pancreatic cancer
Predicted to be more effective than chemo with limited side effects.
In 2000, Professor Philip Hogg asked himself a very important question, one that could lead to a powerful breakthrough treatment for brain and pancreatic cancers and, potentially, cancer as a whole. The question Professor Philip Hogg asked was how do cancers feed themselves? It is well known in the scientific community that cancer cells hijack normal systems of metabolism to increase their energy.
If researchers can help to discover how to target this process, patients could be treated for the disease with limited side effects.
Professor Philip Hogg and his team at the University of New South Wales may be close to an answer for this ‘big question’ with the development of a molecule that inhibits the use of sugar in tumours by deactivating a key component of the cell’s energy factory, or mitochondria. Because this revolutionary new drug targets cancer cells selectively and leaves other cells alone, Professor Philip Hogg believes it could be more effective than chemo and allow patients to live a relatively normal life during treatment.
Clinical trials of the drug have just begun. If the drug is as successful as the team hopes, it could help bring people with brain cancer one step closer to cure.
Research impact:
This new drug could change the lives of thousands of people worldwide, but there is lots to do before it can be approved for general use. The more support we have the quicker that work can be done and the quicker we can start saving lives.