An exceptional $8 million, 10-year philanthropic investment will spearhead new treatments for pancreatic cancer and create a new dedicated research center at WEHI. The center, to be established thanks to an investment by Australian business leader and WEHI President Jane Hemstritch AO, aims to help close the significant survival gap between pancreatic cancer and other cancers. The Hemstritch Centre of Excellence for Pancreatic Cancer Research will provide a leading team of scientists and clinicians with long-term funding to ask big research questions.
They aim to make major progress in treating what is expected to be Australia's second biggest cancer killer by 2030. Pancreatic cancer is a major cancer killer in Australia, with 3600 people dying from this disease each year. Due to a lack of specific symptoms in the early stages, most patients are diagnosed with advanced stage cancer affecting nearby organs.
More than half of people with pancreatic cancer die within the first six months of diagnosis and just 11.5% will survive five years. Sustained research investment has significantly improved survival outcomes for other cancers, including skin, breast, prostate and many blood cancers, but the progress in pancreatic cancer has been slow.
It is hoped the $8 million, 10-year philanthropic investment will be a much-needed boost that accelerates WEHI-led research into pancreatic cancer, and helps close the survival gap with other cancers. WEHI director Professor Ken Smith said res.