Queensland trial evaluating benefits of medical cannabis for cancer patients

A QUEENSLAND trial evaluating the benefits of medical cannabis for people with advanced cancer will be part of a $69 million boost to fight the disease.

A trial evaluating the benefits of medical cannabis for people with advanced cancer will be part of a $69 million boost to fight the disease.

A QUEENSLAND trial evaluating the benefits of medical cannabis for people with advanced cancer will be part of a $69 million boost to fight the disease.

The Federal Government will invest the money in world-leading medical researchers to target devastating and rare conditions like acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in infants, aplastic anaemia, multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s disease.

The University of Queensland will receive $1.4 million to better define the role of medicinal cannabis for cancer patients in palliative care, and look at how patients with advanced cancer can benefit from the drug.

The university will also be given $1.6 million for Professor Maher Gandhi to evaluate an “innovative triple therapy regimen” for patients with primary and secondary brain lymphoma.

Another trial at the university will provide evidence on the best way to treat the rare infection Mycobacterium Abscessus Complex (MABSC).

The trials are mainly aimed at improving survival rates for rare cancers, which have remained unchanged for years, at the same time as rates for more common cancers have improved.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the investment was a significant boost from the $13 million originally flagged when the government called for applications.

“For people living with a rare disease and the medical professionals treating them, there are significant challenges including diagnostic delays, lack of available treatments and difficulty in finding the appropriate care,” Mr Hunt said.

“We are committed to continuing to investment in research to find the answers to these challenges.

“The overwhelming response to this Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) clinical trial grant round demonstrates that there is plenty of research talent and enthusiasm to tackle rare cancers and rare diseases.”