In Australia, lung cancer has a 20 per cent five-year survival rate. Professor Gavin Wright is the VCCC Alliance Research & Education Lead, Lung Cancer. He coordinates collaboration to support progress in new clinical trials, data sharing and understanding of the rapidly changing therapeutic approaches for lung cancer.
Specifically, Professor Wright has promoted two pragmatic trials to open in most VCCC Alliance member hospitals. One compares radiation therapy to surgical intervention in newly diagnosed patients, and the other assesses alternative anesthetics during surgery for lung and colorectal cancer to understand a link to cancer recurrence.
A coordinated approach to collecting tumour material and data is currently being explored for detecting circulating tumour DNA in lung cancer. In addition, Professor Wright is working with researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall to open an avenue for preclinical translational research, involving hospital anatomical and molecular pathology, as well as imaging.
Associate Professor Gavin Wright holds surgical positions at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He is the current Chair of Cancer Australia’s Lung Cancer Advisory Committee.
