Cancer Council NSW is the leading cancer charity in NSW and has been the focus of public action, public giving, and public communication about cancer for more than 50 years.

Specific programs that the Fund will support include:

Cancer Research

 

This year, Cancer Council NSW is again funding more cancer research than any other charitable organisation in the state, committing $14.7 million to research. This money funds studies undertaken by our own researchers, as well as vital cancer research in hospitals, universities and research institutes across New South Wales.

Cancer Council NSW is currently funding several research projects specifically into childhood cancers that include:

• Prof Murray Norris, Children’s Cancer Institute Australia has spent several years developing a highly sensitive and accurate technique of detecting small numbers of survival cancer cells, known as ‘minimal residual disease'. This molecular-based detection is so sensitive it is capable of detecting one cancer cell in a million normal cells in a sample of bone marrow and is now being tested in a major clinical trial in five children's hospitals around Australia, involving children newly-diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). The earlier that doctors are able to find out that cancer cells in a child have survived treatment, the earlier they can intervene to try to kill those cancer cells and prevent relapse from occurring.
  
  
• Dr Lesley Ashton from the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research is establishing a cohort of cancer survivors to characterise genetic factors associated with the risk of developing treatment-related health outcomes and examine patterns of cancer observed in first degree relatives of cancer survivors. Results from this study will impact positively on human lives by characterising the lifetime burden of treatment-related effects in survivors of cancer and identifying those at increased risk of the late effects of anti-cancer therapy.
  
  
• Dr Rachel Ankeny, University of Sydney, is examining best practice in emerging technologies for paediatric transplantation. Many young leukaemia patients are cured by chemotherapy but some require allogenic stem cell transplantation. For many of these children, a donor cannot be identified either among relatives or in registries. In these situations parents are faced with difficult choices: to accept that a transplant is not possible; to wait until an unrelated donor is identified; to have another child in hopes it might be a match for the sick child (which will be a match in 25% of cases); or to use assisted reproductive technologies to create a matched sibling donor. This last option (known popularly as ‘creating a saviour sibling') is currently available in Australia, but there is no clinical consensus about when to suggest its use, who should provide information or referrals, and what issues to discuss with parents. This three-year study will examine these issues in consultation with a range of stakeholders including parents and health care practitioners in order to make recommendations regarding best practice in this area.

Cancer Support

 

While research is a vital part of Cancer Council’s mission to defeat cancer, it is important to support patients, their family and friends who are struggling with cancer now.

Cancer Council NSW provides support to children with cancer, their families and their schools through information such as the Cancer in the School Community resource. The book provides tips, advice and practical resources for school staff members who are faced with a range of scenarios when a child is diagnosed with cancer. It also provides advice on how to support children when a teacher or a parent in the school community is diagnosed with cancer.

Similarly, when a parent has cancer – how to talk to your children resource helps parents talk to children at all ages, from toddler to teenager, about a cancer diagnosis. It can be hard enough for parents to come to grips with their own cancer, let alone having to work out how to help their family cope – and the prospect of telling your children you have cancer can be frightening and upsetting. The book helps parents understand the different reactions, questions and needs of children at various ages, with advice on how to support children during this time.

The Cancer Council Helpline (13 11 20) and online support groups like the dedicated Young Adults forum on Cancer Connections (www.cancerconnections.com.au) also provide crucial information and assistance to children and their families going through cancer.

Cancer Prevention Programs

 

SunSmart

Sun exposure in the first 15 years of life, when children are mostly at school, greatly increases the risk of skin cancer later in life. But most skin cancer can be prevented, and schools and early childhood care facilities play a vital role in ensuring children are protected from UV radiation. Find out more

Eat It To Beat It

Up to 80 per cent of overweight children will become overweight adults, so preventing weight gain in children is very important. Obesity is a significant risk factor for cancer so it’s important to tackle this issue early on. Find out more

Advocacy on Junk-food Advertising

Cancer Council leads national lobbying and research on the impact of junk-food advertising on children and the emerging epidemic of childhood obesity. Find out more

Anti-smoking

Smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke causes about one fifth of all cancer deaths in Australia as well as contributing years of illness and disability through a wide range of other diseases. Sadly, all these tobacco related deaths and disabilities were preventable. Find out more