Cancer Flagship

Research to transform the treatment and lifelong care for childhood cancer.

Child receiving care

The Cancer Flagship at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is a comprehensive paediatric research program that combines biomedical, clinical, and psychosocial research to enhance outcomes and quality of life for children and their families. The program unites the expertise of research scientists, clinicians, specialists and onsite enablers including the Children’s Cancer Centre, the Melbourne Children’s Trials Centre and the Children’s Cancer Centre Biobank to make the greatest impact on the unmet needs of infants, children and adolescents with cancer in Australia and abroad.

Surviving cancer

Almost half of children who survive cancer experience problems with processing information, memory, attention, fine motor control and academic performance. It’s also common for children to experience social withdrawal, anxiety and depression, during and after their treatment journey. Parents and siblings may also suffer psychologically or have post-traumatic stress symptoms from the family disruption childhood cancer demands. The Flagship is working to better understand the psychosocial aspects of childhood cancer on children and their families to improve overall quality of life.

Effective treatment

It is still unclear how each individual child will respond to the therapies currently available, meaning care is not always as effective as it could be. Children can suffer severe side effects or be resistant to certain cancer treatments. How a child's body handles medication can sometimes be determined by their DNA. Our Flagship is working to identify variations in a child's DNA that predispose them to toxicities from treatment to change their clinical care.

New treatments

Innovative trials and delivery of new cancer treatments are changing the life trajectory for children with cancer overseas. Currently, Australia lacks the infrastructure to trial and deliver these therapies. We are working to enable the discovery, trials and delivery of innovative treatments here in Victoria.

Some cancers do not respond to currently available treatments. Our Flagship aims to model treatment-resistant cancers and identify new markers that can be used to develop new therapies.

Equitable care

Our Flagship is dedicated to increasing knowledge and improving the care of children with cancer across the globe. We are particularly focusing on the development and education of a workforce for childhood cancer in low and middle-income countries.

Vision

To develop and implement the latest treatments and technologies to improve health outcomes and the quality of life of those affected by childhood cancer.

Aim

To build a cohesive and holistic research program, unique in its integration of biomedical, clinical and psychosocial expertise, to improve outcomes and quality of life for children and families affected by cancer.

Key facts

Childhood cancer remains the second leading cause of death in Australian children.
Cancer in children is inherently different to that seen in adults and requires a different approach to diagnosis and treatment.
A cancer diagnosis and selection of treatment is just the beginning of the journey for children and their families. We conduct research that takes a whole-of-life approach to make a lasting impact on the lives of children and families.

Childhood cancer remains the second leading cause of death in Australian children.
Cancer in children is inherently different to that seen in adults and requires a different approach to diagnosis and treatment.
A cancer diagnosis and selection of...

Childhood cancer remains the second leading cause of death in Australian children.
Cancer in children is inherently different to that seen in adults and requires a different approach to diagnosis and treatment.
A cancer diagnosis and selection of treatment is just the beginning of the journey for children and their families. We conduct research that takes a whole-of-life approach to make a lasting impact on the lives of children and families.

More information

A-Z on Cancer

Emerge: An eHealth Model of Care following paediatric cancer treatment

Our group members

Name	Role
Professor David Eisenstat	Group Leader, Neuro-Oncology Co-Lead, Victorian Paediatric Cancer Consortium (VPCC) Clinical Oncologists
Associate Professor Rachel Conyers MBBS (hons) FRACP PhD AFRACMA	Team Leader, Pharmacogenomics Clinical Oncologist
Dr Theresa Cole	Allergy Immunology Clinical Immunologist
Dr Marty Campbell	Senior Research Fellow, Neuro-Oncology Clinical Oncologist
Associate Professor Maria McCarthy	Team Leader, Brain and Mind Clinical Psychologist
Michael O’Sullivan	Honorary Fellow Manager, Neuro-Oncology Clinical Oncologist