Australia backs cancer care with $7.7M investment

It seeks to improve cancer prevention, detection, and treatment.

Australia is investing $7.7m (AUD11m), aiming to translate cancer research into improved cancer prevention, detection and treatment in regional and rural communities.

The Translational Cancer Research Capacity Building Grants will fund four programmes, including one to train the next generation of cancer researchers in regions such as the Central Coast and Hunter.

Another will expand access to surgical clinical trials and treatment, including for Aboriginal and multicultural communities across the state.

The five-year investment, delivered through Cancer Institute NSW, will support existing networks of cancer researchers, universities, institutes and health services to build research capacity.

“Less than 4% of registered cancer trials are surgical, yet surgery is the primary curative treatment for most solid tumours,” University of Sydney Professor Michael Solomon said.

He added that it will allow the country to build a statewide network that will increase the delivery of surgical cancer trials across New South Wales.

($1=AUD1.42)