$100m research plan to double brain cancer survival

A $100 MILLION fighting fund will fuel an ambitious goal of doubling brain cancer survival rates in the next decade.

Zoe Stanley, pictured with her mum Penny, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February. Picture: Sarah Matray

A $100 MILLION fighting fund will fuel an ambitious goal of doubling brain cancer survival rates in the next decade.

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The Australian Brain Cancer Mission aims to replicate treatment success seen in other cancers such as leukaemia, where advances in therapies and diagnoses have evolved to test whether pat­ients can avoid certain toxic treatments, while still maintaining high survival rates.

The key drivers of the federal government plan include strengthening international research collaborations, making access to the latest treatments through clinical trials the standard care, and attracting more talented scientists to the brain cancer space from other research areas.

Penny Stanley with her daughter, Zoe, before Zoe was diagnosed with cancer.

Just over 20 per cent of people diagnosed with brain cancer are alive more than five years after their diagnosis, a statistic that has not changed much for the past 30 years.

A 10-year road map, to be launched by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday at the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, will underpin the project that will work to position Australia as a global leader in brain cancer research.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was vital all ­efforts were poured into both defeating the disease and ­improving the quality of life for patients and their families.

Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: AAP

Mr Turnbull said: “The saddest thing about this terrible disease is it disproportionately affects young children.”

Geelong mother Penny Stanley was still having treatment for breast cancer when her daughter Zoe, 5, was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare brain tumour in February.

Zoe has since had surgery, chemotherapy and radiation for the glioblastoma multiforme.

“With breast cancer, there is a plan to get you free,” Mrs Stanley said.

“Brain cancer shouldn’t be a dead end for children.

“It breaks our hearts because Zoe is our world.”

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