Kids’ brain cancer to join Zero

Kids’ brain cancer to join Zero

Professor Michelle Haber couldn’t wait to share the good news.

The Zero Childhood Cancer project lead by Professor Michelle Haber has long been supported by The Kids’ Cancer Project. Now it receives an injection of $5 million from the Federal Government Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to help children with brain cancer. Here’s what Professor Haber wrote to us when she heard the good news.

Dear Col and Owen,

As a valued partner of the Zero Childhood Cancer program who has been with us on this journey from the very beginning, it is with enormous pleasure that I write to let you know that today the Prime Minister and Federal Health Minister have announced $5M of MRFF funding to support Zero Childhood Cancer as part of the Brain Cancer Mission.

These funds will support children on Zero Childhood Cancer with high-risk brain cancer, as nearly 50 per cent of the children on the program to date have been brain cancer patients, and we anticipate 200 children with brain cancer will participate in this trial over the next three years. In addition, the funding will support the enhancement of the testing platform to include immunoprofiling as part of the diagnostic testing, and the establishment of a dedicated brain cancer clinical trials capability that will fast track access to new clinical trials for brain cancer patients.

A summary of the announcement:

  • On Monday 16 July, the Prime Minister announced $5 million over five years in funding toward the Zero Childhood Brain Cancer Program under the Australian Brain Cancer Mission, to improve survival rates for children with high-risk brain cancer.
  • Through the program, children with the most severe forms of brain cancer will have access to the world’s most advanced diagnostic pipeline, including a range of genetic analyses to assist in the identification of the most effective personalised treatment.
  • The funding will fully establish Zero Childhood Brain Cancer as a clinical trial nationally, and consolidate research activities to identify the most appropriate therapeutics for children with high-risk brain cancers.
  • Zero Childhood Brain Cancer will fast track access to novel targeted treatments through national and international clinical trials, and establish an immune profiling platform for the program to expand therapeutics recommendations to immunotherapy.
  • Zero Childhood Brain Cancer is led by the Children’s Cancer Institute and The Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick.
  • Implementation of the Australian Brain Cancer Mission is coordinated and managed by Cancer Australia on behalf of the Australian Government.

This is a wonderful result for all of us involved in this world leading personalised medicine program, and most importantly for the children with high-risk brain cancer on the Zero Childhood Cancer program. 
 
Thank you for all your commitment and contribution to the successes achieved to date, and looking forward to working together in the future.
 
With best wishes,
 
Michelle Haber AM PhD Hon DSc (UNSW) FAHMS
Professor and Executive Director
Children's Cancer Institute