Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

  Overview

In the midst of a worldwide effort, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is in a powerful position to help in the war on cancer. It is one of a handful of comprehensive cancer centres outside the United States and houses the largest cancer research group in Australia, with over 260 research and support staff.

To be most effective, cancer research at Peter Mac has been structured in the form of multidisciplinary teams of laboratory scientists, clinician-researchers and allied health staff. Our spectrum of research ranges from laboratory-based studies into the fundamental mechanisms of cell growth, translational studies that seek more accurate cancer diagnosis, clinical trials with novel treatments, to research aimed at improving our supportive care of patients. The proximity of clinicians and scientists provides unique opportunities for joint research projects and medical advances to be moved from the ‘bench to the bedside’ and for clinically orientated questions to guide our research agenda. We are committed to a genuine translational research effort. Peter Mac has a very active clinical trial program and is a member of the Centre for Developmental Cancer Therapeutics (CDCT), which provides a Melbourne-wide integrated structure for clinical trial co-ordination.

Our laboratory scientists and clinicians work together to solve questions such as: Which genes are most important in specific cancers? How do cancer-causing genes function in the cell to control cell growth, replication or death? How can the immune system be best armed and activated to protect against the development of cancer and to eliminate residual cancer cells remaining after chemotherapy or radiation therapy? How do stem cells function and can they be further exploited therapeutically? Answering fundamental biological questions like these ultimately allows us to understand cancer, how it develops and how it eludes our best efforts to contain it.

Some of Peter Mac’s recent key research findings include -

• Determined that testicular cancer chemotherapy regimes in Australia and Europe had significantly lower survival rates than treatment used in the United States.
• Determined that a combination of chemotherapy and radiation can lead to improved survival for patients with throat cancer.
• Found remarkable efficacy of a radiation and chemotherapy sensitising drug for the treatment of head and neck cancers, which has lead to an international phase III clinical trial.
• Chosen by Pharmacia Upjohn as one of 10 preferred partners worldwide for the design and development of new cancer drugs.
• Installed Australia’s first PET/CT scanner – a state-of-the-art imaging tool that helps to differentiate cancer tissue from non-cancer tissue, detect the spread of cancer, and determine the most appropriate treatment combination for each patient.
• Found that PET scanning is superior to conventional imaging (such as x-rays) and can be used to achieve significantly improved survival rate in patients with lung cancer.
• A major participant in the National Stem Cell Centre with a large program in adult human stem cells and Australia’s only NATA certified facility for ex vivo expansion of human stem cells.
• Cancer Immunology group is a leading centre world-wide in understanding the role NKT cell activity in tumour immunology and granule-mediated cell killing.
• Conducting a major international trial to define the best combination of surgery and radiotherapy for the treatment of rectal cancer.
• Compiling genetic maps of tumour tissue of unknown origin using microarray technology within the Ian Potter Foundation Centre of Cancer Genomics and Predictive Medicine.
• Establishing one of the world’s largest databases for ovarian cancer specimens, rates of incidence and clinical information, which will lead to improve diagnosis, earlier detection and better treatment.
• Co-ordinating the most indepth international study of the way genes and the environment interact in inherited breast cancer, which has lead to increased testing and monitoring of “at risk” family members.

Other information and details of the many exciting research initiatives being taken by Peter Mac can be found at a web site: www.petermac.org

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