Securing Future Of Precision Medicine For Cancer-free Future
The Australian Government is investing $143.4 million to extend two world-leading precision medicine programs for children and adults with cancer, so that more Australians can benefit from the latest in scientific and clinical understanding.
A $112.6 million investment will support the Children’s Cancer Institute to extend and expand the ZERO Childhood Cancer program (ZERO), so its researchers, together with clinicians from the Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick and all paediatric oncology centres around Australia, can continue to support this world first delivery of cutting edge cancer care to all children with cancer (0-18 years), and expand the program to be available to many young people aged 19 to 25 with paediatric type cancers.
When a child is enrolled in ZERO, no matter where they live in Australia, samples of their cancer and normal tissues are sent to Children’s Cancer Institute and ZERO partner organisations, where scientists and clinicians analyse it at a molecular genomic level so they can identify, which treatment and drugs are most likely to be effective.
Following multidisciplinary discussions, the patient’s doctor receives a report that highlights the critical genetic features of the tumour that may influence diagnosis, prognosis and treatment strategies. Where possible, for high risk and complex cancers, those drugs are tested to see how they perform in laboratory models of the individual child’s cancer.
Approximately 1000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year in Australia. Each cancer is unique, and rare. ZERO has already supported more than 2,000 children with its comprehensive precision medicine platform and treatment recommendations, and will continue to be available to all children in Australia with cancer.
As part of this investment, ZERO will receive $21 million to extend its support to young people aged 19-25 with cancers that are typically seen in childhood, including young people whose childhood cancer has relapsed. The expanded program is expected to support an additional 300 young Australians with cancer each year, totalling approximately 1300 children and young people annually who will have access to ZERO’s comprehensive precision medicine platform.
A $30.8 million investment will extend Australia’s largest cancer genomics initiative: Precision Oncology Screening Platform Enabling Clinical Trials (PrOSPeCT), led by Omico and with a range of national and international research and clinical partners.
PrOSPeCT provides comprehensive genomic profiling free of charge to patients with advanced, incurable or poor prognosis cancers, to identify potential treatments based on the genetic make-up of that particular tumour. PrOSPeCT has matched therapies for more than two-thirds of the 5,000 patients it has profiled.
Despite advances in oncology, cancer remains a leading cause of death in Australia for both children and adults, and improvements in survival rates have been uneven across cancer types.
In 2024, more than 40,000 Australians were diagnosed with rare or less common cancers, which account for a quarter of all cancer diagnoses, and a third of all cancer deaths.
This investment builds on other Albanese Government measures to support Australians with rare cancers, including $6.7 million to continue the Australian Rare Cancers Portal, which ensures access to expert advice and the best possible care, regardless of where someone lives.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
“The Albanese Government is ensuring children and adults with rare cancers get the benefit of treatments and therapies that matches the exact genetic make-up of their specific tumour.
“The precision medicine that these world-leading programs make possible is a real game-changer in cancer care – particularly for children and adults with rare or otherwise incurable cancers.
“The ZERO Childhood Cancer program has already supported more than 2,000 Australian children with cancer, and thanks to this investment, the team will be able to expand that support to another 300 young Australians each year.
“This funding will improve health outcomes for people with rare and less common cancers, by increasing access to treatment options, including to otherwise restricted clinical trials that may increase quality of life and extend life expectancy.”
Quotes attributable to Executive Director of Children’s Cancer Institute, Professor Michelle Haber AM:
“The impact of childhood cancer is far greater than most people realise. In Australia, we have more than a thousand cases diagnosed every year, and globally, this number is estimated to be well over 400,000.
These children endure gruelling treatment with life-long physical, emotional and psychological consequences. For them and their families, life is never the same again.”
“Nowhere else in the world do children with cancer have the opportunity of benefiting from a precision program of this depth and impact. ZERO is showing just what’s possible when you combine cutting-edge research and technology with a multidisciplinary team approach to drive clinical care.”
Quotes attributable to the Director of Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Dr Richard Mitchell:
“ZERO’s results clearly demonstrate the power of precision medicine to change clinical outcomes.
“ZERO’s targeted, personalised approach represents a whole new model of care that has the potential to not only improve survival but also reduce damaging side effects in kids and therefore cut down on the time they need to spend in hospital.
“Ultimately this will be less disruptive for their families and achieve better results at a lower cost to the healthcare system.”
Quotes attributable to Laura Dawson, mother of Cary, in remission from Ph-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia:
“Without the Zero Childhood Cancer Program, my daughter would have continued the pattern of ‘recovery’ and relapse with tragic results.
“She was being treated for the most common type of Leukemia, and responding well, but it turned out she had a very rare sub-type and needed a different treatment approach. Everyone was shocked by the genomic test result and it saved her life.”
https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-mark-butler-mp/media/securing-the-future-of-precision-medicine-for-a-cancer-free-future?language=en