$6 million for sarcoma centre at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse

A significant investment has been made in the fight against a rare cancer that strikes down young people in their prime, as the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse moves to establish a new specialised centre.

• Flu cases more than double in 2019
• ‘Brighter future’: dig deep for sick kids

A $6 million pledge could help “change the future” for patients undergoing treatment for a rare cancer that strikes people down in the prime of their lives.

The Federal Government on Wednesday announced the funding for the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse at Camperdown, which is establishing a world-class sarcoma research and treatment centre.

Sarcoma — a cancer forming in the body’s connective tissues including fat, muscle, bone and cartilage — is the most common type of tumour found in children and young people.

Chris O’Brien Lifehouse chief executive Eileen Hannagan.

Lifehouse chief executive Eileen Hannagan said the money, presented by Senator Arthur Sinodinos, would fund the purchase of a revolutionary 3D printer that prints titanium implants to fill in gaps caused by cancer in bones, as new advances in treatment move away from the removal of entire limbs.

It is the first step in setting up a specialised centre, set to eventually include advanced bone scanners and a Haptic Robot — which allows surgeons to fit a prosthesis with new-found precision.

“For many patients, removing the cancer involves extensive surgery, including amputation of limbs and the use of prostheses,” Ms Hannagan said.

Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos with sarcoma survivor Anthony Chu.

“There is a desperate need to advance the treatment of this devastating cancer and improve surgical outcomes and quality of life for people with the disease.”

She said sarcoma’s mortality rate was high among cancers, sitting at between 40 to 60 per cent, and 800 Australians were diagnosed each year: “Grants like this will help us change the future”.

Anthony Chu, 21, is a osteosarcoma survivor. When he was diagnosed at age 18, he was told he had won the lotto but in a bad way”.

After being treated at the Lifehouse, Mr Chu now has a knee replacement and titanium femur in his left leg where the one that was ravaged by cancer once was.

Associate Professor Paul Stalley (centre left) said the sarcoma centre would give patients a better shot at survival.

“I think what this funding gives is a sense of hope,” he said. “That sense of hope wasn’t quite there (for me).

“But being told you have a good chance of survival due to technological advancements is something to hold on to.”

For Associate Professor Paul Stalley, the quest to beat sarcoma is the “reason I’m still in medicine” after 33 years.

Prof Stalley said the technology coming to the new centre would allow doctors to avoid “horrific” procedures such as the hind quarter amputation, which removes the buttocks, hip and leg.

He said the centre would bring together three aspects key aspects of sarcoma treatment — titanium manufacture, robotics and imaging — “under one roof”, giving patients the best chance of a positive outcome.

Arthur Sinodinos said more funds would be needed to complete the sarcoma centre.

Surgery that used to take two to three hours can now take just eight minutes, he said: “What’s happening now is truly exciting.”

Mr Sinodinos, himself a cancer survivor, said the $6 million was included in the Federal Budget guaranteeing it would go to the Lifehouse regardless of this month’s election result.

He said it was a “down payment on creating a world-class facility” to battle a “bugger of a disease”.

“This is about creating ways to avoid the amputation of limbs,” he said. “Today is a day of hope.”