Published Wednesday, 02 May, 2007 at 11:50 AM
Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Peter Beattie
WORLD-FIRST TRIALS USING NEW IMMUNOTHERAPY TECHNIQUE: PREMIER
HONG KONG: World-first clinical trials into a promising new immunotherapy treatment that targets cancer cells are about to get underway, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie announced today.
Mr Beattie said the ground-breaking research by scientists at the Australian Centre for Vaccine Development at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) discovered a way to treat a painful and often terminal cancer.
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC), or Guangdong Cancer, is one of the top four causes of cancer death in the Guangdong Province, taking thousands of lives each year.
“Our Smart State scientists have taken the giant leap forward and developed a new form of immunotherapy treatment,” Mr Beattie said.
“The new treatment stimulates the immune system by ‘training’ a patient’s blood to recognise and destroy the Epstein-Barr virus,” he said.
“Now it is about to go into clinical trials in a region that needs the cure the most, and it will be done on a not-for-profit basis, with QIMR receiving no commercial benefits for the treatment’s transfer.
“It’s the first transcontinental trial of its kind and it could lead to a preventative vaccine for NPC and other cancers.”
The Queensland Government provides approximate AUS$5.5 million (HK $36 million) in funding to QIMR each year.
Mr Beattie said the Phase I clinical trial would initially involve 30 patients, and then up to 300 in Phase II.
QIMR would work closely with the University of Hong Kong and Queen Mary Hospital to conduct the clinical trials.
“I am thrilled to be here to announce our Smart State scientists have potentially found a cure for NPC and, if successful, we will give that cure to the people of Hong Kong and China.”
Mr Beattie last night congratulated philanthropists who donated more than HK $16 million to help make the not-for-profit trial a reality.
Mr Beattie said the new treatment could greatly improve the quality of life for thousands of patients suffering from NPC.
“Current cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can be ineffective in many cases and can have serious side-effects,” he said.
“Hopefully, this clinical trial will result in better treatment options for NPC sufferers and a cure.”
Mr Beattie said the Smart State was continuing its march abroad to foster alliances such as this world-first clinical trial to advance medical discoveries that in turn benefit Queenslanders and the international community.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank Professors Denis Moss, Rajiv Khanna and their team for their hard work, and I congratulate them on creating a treatment that could potentially save millions of lives,” Premier Beattie said.
Queensland Institute of Medical Research Director Professor Michael Good said under the Phase I trial Professor William Wei, Dr Daniel Chua and Dr John Nicholls from the Departments of Clinical Oncology and Pathology at The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, would test the efficiency of the immunotherapy method in 30 NPC patients.
“Blood will be taken from these patients and sent to the Australian Centre for Vaccine Development at QIMR in Brisbane where it will be modified to stimulate the immune killer cells of the body to eradicate the cancer cells,” Professor Good said.
“The patients’ killer cells will then be returned to Hong Kong and injected back into the trial patients to stimulate their own immune system to identify NPC as foreign and destroy the tumour cells,” he said.
“We are very optimistic that our approach, once proven in Hong Kong and China, could be used on many other cancers as we are using a natural form of therapy – assisting the body's own immune system to fight disease.
“Our philosophy to this approach to treating cancer is to provide natural remedies and treatments and to make these available to patients including children.”
QIMR has more than 700 scientists and is internationally renowned for its human cancer trials and the EBV group headed by Professor Denis Moss. Associate Professor Rajiv Khanna has been working towards developing new therapies for the treatment of EBV-associated cancers over many years.
In Hong Kong today Mr Beattie attended the singing of a Memorandum of Understanding between QIMR and the Hong Kong University to undertake more collaborations in medical research in comig years.
Media Contacts: Premier’s Office - 3224 4500
QIMR Michelle Lagana - 0418 575 564
2 May 2007
Mr Beattie said the ground-breaking research by scientists at the Australian Centre for Vaccine Development at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) discovered a way to treat a painful and often terminal cancer.
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC), or Guangdong Cancer, is one of the top four causes of cancer death in the Guangdong Province, taking thousands of lives each year.
“Our Smart State scientists have taken the giant leap forward and developed a new form of immunotherapy treatment,” Mr Beattie said.
“The new treatment stimulates the immune system by ‘training’ a patient’s blood to recognise and destroy the Epstein-Barr virus,” he said.
“Now it is about to go into clinical trials in a region that needs the cure the most, and it will be done on a not-for-profit basis, with QIMR receiving no commercial benefits for the treatment’s transfer.
“It’s the first transcontinental trial of its kind and it could lead to a preventative vaccine for NPC and other cancers.”
The Queensland Government provides approximate AUS$5.5 million (HK $36 million) in funding to QIMR each year.
Mr Beattie said the Phase I clinical trial would initially involve 30 patients, and then up to 300 in Phase II.
QIMR would work closely with the University of Hong Kong and Queen Mary Hospital to conduct the clinical trials.
“I am thrilled to be here to announce our Smart State scientists have potentially found a cure for NPC and, if successful, we will give that cure to the people of Hong Kong and China.”
Mr Beattie last night congratulated philanthropists who donated more than HK $16 million to help make the not-for-profit trial a reality.
Mr Beattie said the new treatment could greatly improve the quality of life for thousands of patients suffering from NPC.
“Current cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can be ineffective in many cases and can have serious side-effects,” he said.
“Hopefully, this clinical trial will result in better treatment options for NPC sufferers and a cure.”
Mr Beattie said the Smart State was continuing its march abroad to foster alliances such as this world-first clinical trial to advance medical discoveries that in turn benefit Queenslanders and the international community.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank Professors Denis Moss, Rajiv Khanna and their team for their hard work, and I congratulate them on creating a treatment that could potentially save millions of lives,” Premier Beattie said.
Queensland Institute of Medical Research Director Professor Michael Good said under the Phase I trial Professor William Wei, Dr Daniel Chua and Dr John Nicholls from the Departments of Clinical Oncology and Pathology at The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, would test the efficiency of the immunotherapy method in 30 NPC patients.
“Blood will be taken from these patients and sent to the Australian Centre for Vaccine Development at QIMR in Brisbane where it will be modified to stimulate the immune killer cells of the body to eradicate the cancer cells,” Professor Good said.
“The patients’ killer cells will then be returned to Hong Kong and injected back into the trial patients to stimulate their own immune system to identify NPC as foreign and destroy the tumour cells,” he said.
“We are very optimistic that our approach, once proven in Hong Kong and China, could be used on many other cancers as we are using a natural form of therapy – assisting the body's own immune system to fight disease.
“Our philosophy to this approach to treating cancer is to provide natural remedies and treatments and to make these available to patients including children.”
QIMR has more than 700 scientists and is internationally renowned for its human cancer trials and the EBV group headed by Professor Denis Moss. Associate Professor Rajiv Khanna has been working towards developing new therapies for the treatment of EBV-associated cancers over many years.
In Hong Kong today Mr Beattie attended the singing of a Memorandum of Understanding between QIMR and the Hong Kong University to undertake more collaborations in medical research in comig years.
Media Contacts: Premier’s Office - 3224 4500
QIMR Michelle Lagana - 0418 575 564
2 May 2007