Patients with primary liver cancer will benefit from a new $10.8 million research centre established with a $5 million Cancer Research Trust grant and $5.8 million from Minderoo Foundation, Curtin University, The University of Western Australia, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, the State Government and charitable organisations.<\/p>\n
Primary liver cancer is where a malignant cancer starts in the liver. It is responsible for the third-most cancer related deaths worldwide, behind only lung and stomach cancer.<\/p>\n
Rates of the most common form of primary liver cancers have been increasing steadily in Australia by 4-5 per cent per year for the past three decades. Average survival after diagnosis is only 12 months and patients often present at an advanced stage when treatment options are limited.<\/p>\n
Director of the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, UWA Professor Peter Leedman, and Curtin University\u2019s Associate Professor Nina\u202fTirnitz-Parker, from the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences and the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI), will co-lead a large team that will apply the latest techniques to\u202fanalyse\u202fpatient\u202ftumours\u202fand test new treatments.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Tirnitz-Parker said the team was incredibly grateful to the Cancer Research Trust for\u202fits\u202f$5 million grant\u202f matched by further $5.8 million from\u00a0generous donations.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch a significant investment in liver cancer research will enable us to develop a\u202fworld-class\u00a0bio-bank and\u00a0collect\u00a0extensive data\u202fthat will be available to researchers and medical specialists around the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Professor Peter Leedman said the new research centre\u202fwould be a true collaboration of medical specialists, experts in liver disease and cancer\u202fresearchers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will establish a process, where patient samples are analysed and tested with a range of potential treatments.<\/p>\n
\u201cInterestingly, the diagnosis of primary liver cancer has typically been made with a blood test and an MRI, but not with a biopsy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have the latest\u202fadvanced genomics\u202ftechnology in Perth that can\u202fanalyse\u202fa liver tumour biopsy at the single cell level and look at each\u202ftumour\u2019s\u202fmolecular fingerprint and individual pathology\u202fas well as\u202fcompare a patient\u2019s early and late stage cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy defining the underlying biology of each\u00a0tumour, we will be able to provide more precision in treatment selection, eventually matching the \u2018right patient to the right drug\u2019 but we also expect to uncover new pathways that can be attacked with new drugs,\u201d Professor Leedman said.<\/p>\n
Some patient tissue will undergo advanced genomics analysis by UWA Professor Alistair Forrest at the Harry Perkins Institute while Curtin University will use patient tissue to grow organoids, or mini livers.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Nina Tirnitz-Parker said the new project aimed to improve outcomes for people with primary liver cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new centre will establish organoids, miniaturised versions of an organ, from patient tumour samples that will be profiled,\u201d Associate Professor Tirnitz-Parker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will establish a repository of organoids that represent different tumour subtypes and then perform drug screenings and make informed decisions on the best possible treatment choices without any side effects to the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team aims to develop a unique large resource of approximately 500 liver cancer samples over five years from across Australia, which on a global scale is a sizeable collection.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost importantly, the Centre will make a difference to the treatment of liver cancer and contribute to greater international understanding of the disease,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Western Australian Liver Cancer Collaborative will include\u202fmore than 50 researchers from UWA, the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and Curtin University-CHIRI. It will also involve Perth\u2019s three main teaching hospitals as well as interstate and international collaborators.<\/p>\n
WA Health Minister Roger Cook said it was a pleasure for the McGowan Government to contribute funding to The Western Australian Liver Cancer Collaborative, alongside eminent Western Australian institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cEffective research is about more than giving dollars to help solve a problem,\u201d Mr Cook said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s so heartening to see this truly collaborative Western Australian approach, with interstate and international input, applied to liver cancer research.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe application of substantial combined effort, strategic thinking and the latest advanced genomics technology is sure to advance us much further on the path to unlocking the mysteries of this aggressive cancer that devastates far too many lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minderoo Foundation is providing $2.5 million, Curtin University $1 million,\u202f$500,000 is being contributed by each of UWA,\u202fthe Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, the WA Health Department and the Sir Charles Gairdner\u202fHospital\u202fFoundation. The McCusker Charitable Foundation is contributing $300,000.<\/p>\n
Dr Steve Burnell, CEO of Minderoo Foundation\u2019s Collaborate Against Cancer initiative said the new liver cancer collaborative was a crucial step to tackling this particularly deadly disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Minderoo Foundation we are passionate about enabling effective collaboration and supporting the collection and sharing of the data needed to underpin the next generation of cancer research and treatment,\u201d Dr Burnell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project, generating a unique precision medicine dataset for liver cancer and involving dozens of experts across relevant disciplines, exemplifies this approach.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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