Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre News
February 2014
Professor Richard Larkins AO (Chairman)
This message follows the February 2014 Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC)
Board meeting and summarises the topics discussed by members and other important news.
Key elements of the VCCC’s business case for future funding, submitted in October 2013 to
the Victorian Government, will be incorporated into the VCCC Strategic Program. The VCCC
will modify the program to reflect the available budget. The VCCC uses the comprehensive
cancer centre model — that is, a focused program of work that is multidisciplinary and
multisited, and integrates cancer research, education and clinical care.
Living with Cancer Program
The VCCC Living with Cancer Program has been established to deliver outcomes for the key
performance indictor ‘reducing the burden of cancer’. A representative VCCC working group
oversees the Living with Cancer Program, which includes Western & Central Melbourne
Integrated Cancer Service representation. Recently, patients completed a Cancer Patient
Experience Survey, which was then benchmarked to patients in the United Kingdom who
completed a similar survey.
Key results from the Cancer Patient Experience Survey

Overall, patients rated their care as very good or excellent.

Patients who were managed by a nurse specialist or nurse coordinator had a better
experience than those who were not (as identified by more than 50 questions).

Patients reported a lack of specific written information about their treatment and side
effects of their management plan.

Patients with central nervous system cancers or sarcomas reported a worse experience
than those with other types of cancers.

Patients felt they needed better access to allied health support, such as financial advice,
than they currently receive.
The VCCC and the Victorian Cancer Registry have started recruitment for the Patient
Reported Outcomes Measures survey (PROMs) for breast, prostate and colorectal cancer,
and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The newly developed VCCC melanoma PROMs has been
tested, and the questionnaire is being refined before being submitted to the Cancer Council
Victoria Human Research Ethics Committee. We anticipate that recruitment for melanoma
survivors will start in February, and field work for the survey will likely continue until Quarter
2, 2014.
The results of the Cancer Patient Experience Survey and PROMs will strongly project the
patients’ voices into our clinical planning.
Leaders in Cancer Program
The Leaders in Cancer Program continues to strengthen. This program aims to recruit and
consolidate the best research leaders of high international standing to the VCCC. The
Leaders in Cancer Program has now developed six new academic chairs and seven new
fellowships — most during the past 12 months. Recent activity includes:
•
Professor Andrew Roberts has taken up his position as the Metcalf Chair in Leukaemia
Research.
•
The University of Melbourne (UoM) is negotiating to complete the appointment of the
Lorenzo Galli Chair in Melanoma and Skin Cancer as a joint research program of UoM
and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
•
The sixth chair is the Chair in Cancer Health Services Research. Perrett Lever, a global
executive search firm, is assisting with the international search, which is under way.
Members continue to receive accolades for their outstanding achievements. Some of these
are highlighted on the following pages.
Professor Jerry Adams FAA FRS — 2014 Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture for research
in the biological sciences
Professor Adams, Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
of Medical Research, has made groundbreaking contributions to the genetic basis of cancer
and the control of cell death. His research with institute colleagues, often using mouse
models, has clarified how chromosome translocations promote tumour growth. Their
discoveries on the Bcl-2 protein family, which controls cell death, have revealed that the
reduced cell death seen in cancer cells is a major step in cancer development and an
impediment to its therapy. His findings have stimulated and guided the development of
novel anticancer agents based on restoring cell death in cancers by targeting Bcl-2 proteins.
Source: www.science.org.au
Dr Kieran F Harvey — Gottschalk Medal for outstanding research in the medical sciences
Dr Harvey’s research, at the Cancer Research Division, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, is
important for helping to understand species diversity and development, and is directly
relevant to human diseases such as cancer. Organ-size control is a fundamental aspect of
biology and varies greatly among animals. Signalling networks that control organ size are
only beginning to be unravelled. Foremost among them is the recently characterised Hippo
pathway, on which Dr Harvey made integral discoveries. Better knowledge of size control
will potentially have a huge impact on human cancer and degenerative diseases, and provide
fertile ground for therapeutic interventions. He was also the first to show that the Hippo
pathway is evolutionarily conserved, and that it is mutated in human cancer. More recently,
Dr Harvey’s laboratory discovered that the Hippo pathway controls organ regeneration.
Source: www.science.org.au
Dr Kylie Mason — Herman Clinical Fellow of Cancer Research
Dr Mason is a haematologist and translational researcher at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
(RMH) and RMH Department of Medicine, UoM. As a recipient of a Herman Clinical
Fellowship, she will continue her impressive trajectory in cancer research. The Herman
Fellowship adds to her growing list of honours and awards, which include the Premier’s
Award for Health and Medical Research (in 2009) and the l’Oreal Australia Fellowship (in
2012). Dr Mason’s work has been published in high-impact journals, including Cell, and has
been cited more than 1500 times. Her focus has been on the translation of basic science to
clinical trials — in particular, in blood cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma.
A Centre for Cancer Excellence
In 2014, the Cancer Research Advisory Committee will be asked to provide a more active
strategic response to our research reviews, which will be consistent with the new VCCC
Business Case 2014–19. The aim will be to facilitate and increase successful multisite,
multidisciplinary grants to our cancer research program. Work is under way to provide
greater research support to deliver this program within the 2014–16 budgets.
The VCCC Genomics Personalised Medicine Program continues to support the ALLOCATE
study in ovarian cancer (extended into its second year), as well as the Molecular Tumour
Board.
There has been considerable interest in the fee-reduction opportunity for the Graduate
Certificate of Clinical Teaching; five of the first-year supported individuals are progressing to
the Masters level. The aims of the graduate certificate and the fee-reduction initiatives are
to better equip our staff with cancer knowledge and to attract more high-performing
individuals to the ‘Melbourne Model’ of postgraduate learning.
VCCC communications
The VCCC Board has agreed on a series of communications principles, which include
consistent and uniform referencing to the VCCC, and acknowledgment of other member
organisations when referring to the Parkville facility or activities involving more than one
member. The VCCC Communications Group has been re-formed and will operationalise the
communications strategy.
Work has started on a partnership approach to the content of the VCCC site billboard. Our
new approach will aim to display messages relevant to all VCCC members, consistent with
our collaboration. A new billboard will be erected in late February or early March.
Harmonisation of research governance, ethics and consent
The VCCC Business Case 2014–19 outlined the need for harmonised research governance,
ethics and consent across the VCCC to provide a more supportive and efficient research
environment, especially for multisite and multidisciplinary research programs. At the
February Board meeting, members agreed to work with the information and
communications technology team and precinct initiatives to define fully the objectives and
scope of work required for a harmonised approach. They will also outline a work plan to
improve standard consent, allow data sharing and speed up ethics interactions. Legal
opinion will also be sought to guide any new agreements that become necessary between
parties.
Concluding comments
This year promises to be another of significant growth and achievement for the VCCC, as
members continue to develop collaborations that demonstrate the comprehensive cancer
centre model and reap the benefits of such collaborations. Success relies on each
individual’s and member’s commitment to the vision of a world-class cancer program
providing the most efficient, cost-effective and high-quality outcomes for patients.
Richard Larkins, VCCC Chairman
The vision for the VCCC is to save lives through the integration of cancer research, education
and patient care. Through innovation and collaboration, the VCCC will drive the next
generation of improvements in prevention, detection and treatment of cancer.
Contact us
Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre
PO Box 2148, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Vic 3050
Level 3, 766 Elizabeth St, Melbourne, Vic 3000
telephone: +61 3 8344 8708 email: victorianccc-info@unimelb.edu.au
website: www.vcccproject.vic.gov.au/TheAlliance
Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Ltd trading as Victorian Comprehensive Cancer
Centre
The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, a joint venture between:
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Melbourne Health
The University of Melbourne
The Royal Women’s Hospital
Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne
Western Health
St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne