We are raising funds for Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation for Prof. Ziegler's Research into Childhood Cancer

Did you know that in Australia approximately 760 children aged 0–14 years and 200 aged 15-19 are diagnosed with cancer each year. 

It's not rare if it happens to you - your child, your family, your friend ... https://youtu.be/CroP5XJa85k

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death among children (aged 1–14) and third among adolescences in Australia.

The most common types of childhood cancer include acute lymphoid leukaemia, astrocytoma, and neuroblastoma, and the most common cancer types in adolescents include lymphomas, melanomas, and carcinomas.

Advancements in medical treatments have significantly improved survival rates for childhood cancers in Australia. The overall five-year survival rate is now over 80%, although this varies depending on the specific type of cancer. 

Over the past decade, advancements in medical treatments have significantly improved survival rates for children diagnosed with cancer. Currently, approximately 85% of children with cancer survive five years or more, a substantial increase from the mid-1970s when the five-year survival rate was around 58%.

Despite these advancements, it's important to acknowledge that childhood cancer survivors may face long-term health challenges, such as cardiac issues, secondary cancers, or organ dysfunction. Ongoing research aims to develop treatments that are not only effective but also reduce these long-term risks, further improving the quality of life for survivors.

In summary, the past decade has seen notable progress in cancer treatments, leading to improved survival rates and more personalised, effective therapies.

ONLY via research and innovation has made this possible.

ONLY through philanthropy and donations can research and innovation exist to enhance outcomes and address the long-term health of childhood cancer survivors. Remember the five-year survival rate for children diagnosed with cancer in Australia has improved from about 80% in the early 2000s to over 85% in recent years ...

We can only do this by continuing to raise the bar and continuing to fund research to find new and better treatments. Our targeted aim is to see cancer become an unremarkable event for children and adolescences with cancer and their families (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNv5VclZT_A).

Where does your generosity(*) go (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpEAIJXQr58) ... to help Professor David Ziegler who is Group Leader of the Brain Tumours Group at Children's Cancer Institute, and Chair of Clinical Trials for the Zero Childhood Cancer Program, co-led by Children's Cancer Institute and Sydney Children's Hospital Randwick (SCH). He also holds a conjoint appointment with UNSW in the Faculty of Medicine. He is head of the neuro-oncology program at Sydney Children’s Hospital, and runs the clinical trials program at the Kids Cancer Centre.

A senior paediatric oncologist in the Kids Cancer Centre, David completed his clinical training at SCH before moving to the US to take up a position as a Fulbright Scholar at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston. His extensive clinical experience informs and motivates his research, which is highly translational.

‘My research is driven by the patients I see in clinic every day. I’m focused on developing new therapies we can get into the clinic to help children with high-risk cancers. Too many children are still suffering and dying – that’s what we need to change,’ he explains.

David’s research at the Institute is focused on developing targeted therapies for brain cancers, particularly DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), the most aggressive and incurable of all childhood cancers. In 2013, he established Australia’s first research program for DIPG, collecting and growing tumour samples from children around Australia and screening drugs against these to identify potential new therapies. He is now looking to find which combinations of these drugs work best.

An important focus of David’s work is developing new clinical trials that bring research discoveries into the clinic to treat children with the most aggressive cancers. He has developed and led several innovative national and international trials for children with brain tumours, leukaemia, and solid tumours.  He is the clinical lead of trials run through the Zero Childhood Cancer Program and leads the early phase clinical trials program at the Kids Cancer Centre.

David’s translational work has led to Australian children being the first in the world to receive new therapies for cancers like DIPG. ‘A few years ago, we didn’t really have any treatment options for children with DIPG, so we’ve been able to change the way we manage these high-risk cancers,’ he says. ‘I hope in the next 10 years there’s a transformational change, where this kind of targeted approach becomes the standard way children with cancer are treated.’

(In partnership with ZeroDash to improve the Technology capability - https://youtu.be/rNv5VclZT_A)

(*) All donations > $2 are tax deductable