Financial Markets Foundation for Children to Boost Capacity For Brain Cancer Clinical Trials at Australian Paediatric Oncology Centres
‘An investment of $5 million by The Financial Markets Foundation for Children to ANZCHOG will help Australian paediatric oncology centres expand their clinical trial capacity and give Australian children with brain cancer access to the latest international brain cancer clinical trials.’
Dr Chris Fraser, ANZCHOG Chair
More Australian children die from brain cancer than any other disease and, despite improvements in outcomes for most other types of childhood cancer, survival rates for brain cancer have remained relatively unchanged for the past 30 years.
Clinical trials offer the best hope for increasing survival rates and improving quality of life for children with brain cancer. Australian children diagnosed with cancer are treated at one of nine specialist paediatric oncology centres, where the latest clinical trials are offered to patients. Through our on-going networking with international trial groups, ANZCHOG is providing more opportunities for centres to open a range of innovative brain cancer trials. However, the number of trials that can be opened at any one site is limited by resourcing, specifically experienced staff to open and conduct the trials at each centre.
To address this limitation, The Financial Markets Foundation for Children will provide funding across five years to employ clinical trials staff for brain cancer trials at each Australian paediatric oncology centre. This additional staffing will enhance the capacity at the site level to open and conduct more brain cancer clinical trials, maximising access to the latest, innovative treatments.
“We have invested significant effort to build our relationships with leading international brain cancer trial groups, ensuring we are offered the opportunity to participate in upcoming trials, and also within the ANZCHOG Office to build our capacity to centrally open and manage these trials, “said ANZCHOG Chair, Dr Chris Fraser. “The missing link has been dedicated funding to centres to ensure they have the capacity to rapidly open and conduct these trials, thereby capitalising on the opportunities offered by ANZCHOG’s expanding trial portfolio. Ultimately, the funding from Financial Markets Foundation for Children will provide essential resourcing at our centres, directly increasing access to international clinical trials for children diagnosed with brain cancer.”
Mr Paul J Robertson AO and Mr William P Gurry AO, Directors of the Financial Markets Foundation for Children said that “The Financial Markets Foundation for Children is pleased to work with Cancer Australia and the Australia and New Zealand Children’s Haematology and Oncology Group, to invest in the Australian Brain Cancer Mission and support this important research to improve outcomes for children affected by brain cancer.”
The funding from the Financial Markets Foundation for Children has been matched by additional funding from the Australian Government, the Robert Connor Dawes (RCD) Foundation and Carries’ Beanies 4 Brain Cancer (CB4BC). We would like to thank these organisations for their generous support.