WORLD FIRST PROSTATE CANCER TRIAL RECEIVES GOVERNMENT FUNDING INJECTION
Published Tuesday, 06 February, 2007 at 01:15 PM
Minister for State Development, Employment and Industrial Relations
The Honourable John Mickel
Minister for State Development John Mickel today presented $494,926 to the Mater Medical Research Institute (MMRI) to assist with the operating costs for a world first trial into a prostate cancer vaccine.
The money is provided through the Operational Support Program of the Smart State Health and Medical Research Fund (SSHMRF) which is designed to fund eligible independent medical research institutes to assist in meeting their operational costs.
“MMRI is a world-class facility and its research programs have attracted top scientists from around the globe,” Mr Mickel said at his visit to the site today to view progress on the vaccine for prostate cancer.
“While research projects receive individual funding, it’s critical that we do not overlook the growing operational costs to maintain such a facility.
“The objective of the Operational Support Program is to boost the national competitive research strength of Queensland’s independent medical research institutes such as MMRI and the Wesley Research Institute.”
Mr Mickel said the program provides a total funding pool of up to $500,000 per year for four years. Research institutes can apply from that pool for funding to support general operational costs of research not covered by other research grants.
MMRI and the Department of State Development signed a funding agreement in October 2005 and the Institute received its first payment of $254,020 at that time. A third payment will be made before the end of this year.
“Our aim is to position Queensland independent medical research institutes to attract further national and international investment,” Mr Mickel said.
“The Beattie Government sees a future in which Queensland is a leading centre for health and medical research in Australia, particularly in the biomedical research sector and that’s an area MMRI has made enormous progress in.”
The Minister said MMRI, which was established in 1998, has a number of key research projects being conducted. These include the development of a technique to diagnose ovarian cancer through a blood test as well as research into bone marrow and solid organ transplants and adult stem cells for use in the treatment of a wide range of diseases.
The Clinical Trials Centre of MMRI is also conducting research for treatments addressing diseases including multiple myeloma, breast cancer and Hepatitis C with a clinical trial running for prostate cancer.
“One in 11 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and around 2,600 men die from the disease each year in Australia,” Mr Mickel said.
“Only 15 per cent of men have the appropriate screening and to make matters worse, early stage, curable prostate cancer is often non-symptomatic.”
Mr Mickel said the world-first Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial was headed by MMRI Director Professor Derek Hart who discovered dendritic cells in 1979.
Dendritic Cells are specialised white blood cells produced in the bone marrow which initiate the body’s immune response against foreign or infectious agents in the body such as cancer cells.
“Unfortunately cancer is very good at hiding from dendritic cells but the vaccine we are working on will effectively re-train the immune system to seek out and attack the cancer as it would launch an attack on a cold or flu,” Professor Hart said.
“Our researchers have been teaching the dendritic cells to recognise the cancer by attaching cancer proteins to the dendritic cells and creating a vaccine.”
Professor Hart said that phase one of MMRI Dendritic Cell Prostate Cancer Trial began in February 2006. It is focussed on assessing the safety of the new treatment and so far five patients have been vaccinated.
“A further seven patients will be vaccinated in this phase but so far the vaccine has been well received by patients,” he said.
“While it is too early to tell if the vaccine has had any effect on the patients’ conditions, the trial has progressed well with no adverse reactions, giving us confidence that it is safe.
“Our next step is to launch a new phase one trial before the middle of the year which will build on the current trial using a new ‘smart state’ antibody developed and produced here at MMRI.”
Media contact: Chris Brown 3224 7349 or Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
Contact for Professor Hart, via Marnie Nichols at the Mater Medical Research Institute, telephone: 3840 2433.
6 February, 2007
The money is provided through the Operational Support Program of the Smart State Health and Medical Research Fund (SSHMRF) which is designed to fund eligible independent medical research institutes to assist in meeting their operational costs.
“MMRI is a world-class facility and its research programs have attracted top scientists from around the globe,” Mr Mickel said at his visit to the site today to view progress on the vaccine for prostate cancer.
“While research projects receive individual funding, it’s critical that we do not overlook the growing operational costs to maintain such a facility.
“The objective of the Operational Support Program is to boost the national competitive research strength of Queensland’s independent medical research institutes such as MMRI and the Wesley Research Institute.”
Mr Mickel said the program provides a total funding pool of up to $500,000 per year for four years. Research institutes can apply from that pool for funding to support general operational costs of research not covered by other research grants.
MMRI and the Department of State Development signed a funding agreement in October 2005 and the Institute received its first payment of $254,020 at that time. A third payment will be made before the end of this year.
“Our aim is to position Queensland independent medical research institutes to attract further national and international investment,” Mr Mickel said.
“The Beattie Government sees a future in which Queensland is a leading centre for health and medical research in Australia, particularly in the biomedical research sector and that’s an area MMRI has made enormous progress in.”
The Minister said MMRI, which was established in 1998, has a number of key research projects being conducted. These include the development of a technique to diagnose ovarian cancer through a blood test as well as research into bone marrow and solid organ transplants and adult stem cells for use in the treatment of a wide range of diseases.
The Clinical Trials Centre of MMRI is also conducting research for treatments addressing diseases including multiple myeloma, breast cancer and Hepatitis C with a clinical trial running for prostate cancer.
“One in 11 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and around 2,600 men die from the disease each year in Australia,” Mr Mickel said.
“Only 15 per cent of men have the appropriate screening and to make matters worse, early stage, curable prostate cancer is often non-symptomatic.”
Mr Mickel said the world-first Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial was headed by MMRI Director Professor Derek Hart who discovered dendritic cells in 1979.
Dendritic Cells are specialised white blood cells produced in the bone marrow which initiate the body’s immune response against foreign or infectious agents in the body such as cancer cells.
“Unfortunately cancer is very good at hiding from dendritic cells but the vaccine we are working on will effectively re-train the immune system to seek out and attack the cancer as it would launch an attack on a cold or flu,” Professor Hart said.
“Our researchers have been teaching the dendritic cells to recognise the cancer by attaching cancer proteins to the dendritic cells and creating a vaccine.”
Professor Hart said that phase one of MMRI Dendritic Cell Prostate Cancer Trial began in February 2006. It is focussed on assessing the safety of the new treatment and so far five patients have been vaccinated.
“A further seven patients will be vaccinated in this phase but so far the vaccine has been well received by patients,” he said.
“While it is too early to tell if the vaccine has had any effect on the patients’ conditions, the trial has progressed well with no adverse reactions, giving us confidence that it is safe.
“Our next step is to launch a new phase one trial before the middle of the year which will build on the current trial using a new ‘smart state’ antibody developed and produced here at MMRI.”
Media contact: Chris Brown 3224 7349 or Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
Contact for Professor Hart, via Marnie Nichols at the Mater Medical Research Institute, telephone: 3840 2433.
6 February, 2007