New Centre for Cancer Immunotherapy opens
The opening of the Centre for Cancer Immunotherapy last month cemented Melbourne’s position as a global leader in immunotherapy research in cancer. The event provided the opportunity to acknowledge some internationally-recognised Melbourne-based immunologists whose achievements helped to build these strong credentials for Victoria.
With the new Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos, centre director Joe Trapani, University of Melbourne Assistant Vice-Chancellor Professor Shitij Kapur and in the company of Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute medical director Professor Jonathan Cebon and Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty we were witness to a new era.
I have worked as a researcher and clinician in cancer for 30 years and immunotherapy is the biggest paradigm change we have seen in medicine in that time.
Significant increase in cancer survival rates
In the past three decades there has been a significant increase in cancer survival rates from 50 to 70 per cent. And now, as we bring together genomics, personalised medicine, immunotherapy, new technology and significant improvements in patient care, we are about to see a new upswing in these numbers.
Game changing, revolutionary changes are rarely - if ever - the work of one person or even one institution. The discoveries in immunotherapy have resulted from innovative research from around the world - and one of the main centres for this has been here in Melbourne.
Health Minister, Jenny Mikakos was generous in her praise of local scientists acknowledging that Victoria is home to some of the best and brightest medical minds and she enthusiastically endorsed the research collaborations made possible by the Centre for Immunotherapy.
Exciting time for cancer research and care
Centre director Joe Trapani articulated what an incredibly exciting time it is for cancer research and care. Joe commented that just 20 years ago, we had three ways to treat cancer: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. While these remain indispensable, we now have targeted drug therapies and, in the last six or so years, immune-based therapies, where we mobilise the patient’s own immune system. And it’s effective – in advanced melanoma, in some forms of lung cancer, kidney and bladder cancers, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and in childhood leukemia.
Joe commented that there are currently around 40 researchers and PhD students from six institutions working in the collaborative space from Peter Mac, the University of Melbourne, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Austin Health/Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Within 18 months these numbers will grow to 60 and there is space for 100. Without doubt, the new Centre for Immunotherapy will enable all who work across the VCCC alliance to test new ideas and approaches and bring them rapidly to clinical trial to benefit the cancer community in Victoria, nationally and across the world.
Some of the current research projects being undertaken include:
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Peter Mac with Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Peter Mac/Royal Children’s Hospital/Sydney Children's Hospital/Monash Medical Centre
Peter Mac with St Vincent’s Hospital and University of Western Australia
Peter Mac/Zero Childhood Cancer/Children’s Cancer Institute/Royal Children’s Hospital
Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute/Peter Mac
The vision for the centre is that within five years, Victorian patients with all types of advanced cancer will have access to a clinical trial with an appropriate immune-based cancer therapy.
For me, Professor Shitij Kapur, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences and Assistant Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne summed it up when he acknowledged the single-minded mission for the centre and the importance it will have for patients now and into the future.
Professor Grant McArthur
Executive Director
