Congratulations to Collingwood wheelchair footballers Andrew Paddle (Development team) and Will Crooks (Senior team) who are the 2022 recipients of the Peter Mac Medal.
The Peter Mac Medal was initiated in 2021 and it strengthens the long-running relationship between Peter Mac and AFL club Collingwood.
It is awarded each year at the end of a Victorian Wheelchair Football League (VWFL) game between Collingwood and Hawthorn wheelchair footy sides.
The Peter Mac Medal goes to the player that best represents the values of resilience, commitment and teamwork – as judged by the umpires.
It was awarded as both Collingwood and Hawthorn’s Development and Senior VWFL teams clashed on Sunday 28 August.
Ben Jankovski, Disability Inclusion Officer at Collingwood AFL club, said in addition to their team-first attitudes both Andrew and Will featured among the goal scorers.
“It was a great day overall with both games being a great contest!” said Mr Jankovski, who is also captain of the Collingwood’s senior VWFL team.
In the Development match, Andrew scored four goals as Collingwood (8.11.59) beat Hawthorn (3.2.20) by 39 points.
In the Senior game, Collingwood (14.7.91) downed Hawthorn (11.4.70) and notably Will scored his first goal for Collingwood.
The VWFL exists to provide Victorians with a physical disability the opportunity to play Australian Rules football, at a competitive level.
Since 1993 and during most regular AFL seasons, Collingwood and Carlton AFL clubs compete for the Peter Mac Cup which is the AFL’s longest running charity (and cancer awareness raising) match.
Peter Mac's Professor Shelley Dolan recently sat down for an interview Richard Vines, from Rare Cancers Australia.
This is the first in a series of interviews produced by Rare Cancers Australia (RCA) to put a spotlight on "some of the brightest minds in the Australian cancer community".
“Shelley has a remarkable story, having moved through the ranks from ICU nurse to CEO," says Mr Vines, who is RCA's chief executive.
"Together, we talk about what she’s learned from patients and their families over her 30-year career, the importance of making your voice heard as a patient, and how we can improve access to clinical trials in rural and regional areas, among other things."
You can watch the interview here:
Over the coming weeks, RCA will also release interviews in this "Thought Leader Series" with:
Carlo Montagner, Chief Executive, Specialised Therapeutics Australia
Professor John Zalcberg, Head of Cancer Research, Monash University
Ann Single, Coordinator, Patient Voice Initiative and Chair, HTAi Patient and Citizen Involvement in HTA Interest Group
Emeritus Professor Ian Frazer AC, University of Queensland, and co-inventor of the technology behind the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine
Professor Grant McArthur, Executive Director, Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) Alliance.
“Each conversation is unique; they all have different insights and perspectives to offer," Mr Vines says.
"Our hope is that this series will help give patients a chance to hear from those who affect their lives every day and how these decision makers see the opportunities for change,” Richard said.
RCA is a is a charity whose mission is to improve the lives and health outcomes of Australians living with rare, less common and complex cancers.
Young people who have experienced cancer between the ages of 15 and 25 are invited to apply for this opportunity to help shape cancer services, policy and research relevant to them.
Young people are the most powerful advocates for their own needs and have the right to meaningfully participate in shaping services, policy and research that affects their lives.
Established in 2010, the Victorian & Tasmanian Youth Cancer Action Board (YCAB) is a 12-member board of young people diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 15 and 25 and treated in a Victorian or Tasmanian health service. They provide advice and guidance to government and the broader health and community sector on cancer policy, priorities and services affecting Victorian and Tasmanian youth.
YCAB has been highly influential across the sector in advocating for the improvement of services and supports for young people with cancer and their families including:
YCAB is supported by the Victorian Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Service (ONTrac at Peter Mac), who provide relevant education, training and support as part of their broader Youth Participation Framework. Previous Board members report many benefits to their participation, including the opportunity to meet other young people, learn new skills and have fun while seeing the positive impact they can have on existing and future AYA cancer initiatives.
YCAB meets six times per year (three weeknight evenings via Zoom and three Saturdays in person in Melbourne), with all costs covered and members remunerated for their time.
(with QR code)
More information about YCAB and our Youth Cancer Action Program can be found on the Victorian AYA Cancer Service (ONTrac at Peter Mac) website, or by contacting us at [email protected] | (03) 8559 6880.
Experts from Peter Mac stepped into the international spotlight over the weekend, giving lectures and presenting their research findings at the 2022 European Society of Medical Oncology congress in Paris.
Professor Danny Rischin’s and Dr Annette Lim's research into the use of a treatment called Cemiplimab prior to surgery for stage II-IV cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma was presented at the congress.
There was a simultaneous publication of the research findings in the highly regarded New England Journal of Medicine. Fifty per cent of people who received cemiplimab in the trial had no evidence of any residual cancer in the surgical specimen.
Professor Sarah-Jane Dawson’s knowledge and expertise in the detection of minimal residual disease was evident. Sarah-Jane was asked to not only co-chair the session she gave the introduction to the session and scientific background as well as a lecture on the utility of minimal residual disease in clinical trials.
Professor Sherene Loi discussed the microenvironment in early breast cancer during a session focussed on new classifications and staging of breast cancer.
Associate Professor Shahneen Shandu chaired a special symposium on prostate cancer and presented data on LU-PSMA as a prostate cancer treatment.
Mini oral presentations provide fellow researchers and clinicians with the opportunity to hear the most impactful research and ask questions of the researchers.
It was wonderful to see Associate Professor Shom Goel and Professor Jeanne Tie both presenting their important research as ‘Mini Orals’ to help further advance cancer treatment. Professor Prue Francis chaired and was an Invited Discussant to put into context research presented during the early breast cancer Mini Oral presentation session.
Associate Professor Shankar Siva was invited to speak on the emerging role of stereotactic radiotherapy in primary and metastatic kidney cancer.
It was also wonderful to see Dr Lavinia Tan present a poster on her PhD research which explores the use of a liquid biopsy called circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA). Her research examines whether ctDNA in the blood can be used to determine which patients will respond to treatment and identify those that are likely to become resistant to treatment.
Patients that had a significant decrease in their ctDNA in the first two weeks following treatment were found to have the greatest and most enduring response to treatment.
New research published in Science Advances today conducted by researchers at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre show a new treatment for two challenging blood cancers could potentially help more patients than originally thought.
Associate Professor Nicholas Clemons, Group Leader in the Cancer Evolution and Metastasis Program at Peter Mac, said “Our research highlighted an additional mode of action for the treatment known as eprenetapopt opening up its potential to work in a broader group of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients.
“The treatment was initially thought to only target patients with the TP53 mutation however we believe it could be beneficial to substantially more patients.”
AML is a type of blood cancer known as leukaemia. It is characterised by the bone marrow producing too many immature white blood cells. This stops the marrow from being able to make normal blood cells.
Fellow researcher Dr Kenji Fujihara said “We believe this treatment will work well in AML patients that accumulate iron as we uncovered that eprenetapopt triggers a cell death called ferroptosis that is reliant on iron.
“This is an exciting development as cancer cells can become resistant to the usual means of cell death know as apoptosis.”
Associate Professor Clemons said the treatment is currently undergoing clinical trials and the research discovery will hopefully enable more patients who need new treatment options a chance to beat their cancer.
“We’re now also interested in finding out what other cancers outside of AML/MDS might benefit from this new activity of the drug,” he said.
Myelodysplastic syndrome changes into acute myeloid leukaemia in approximately 30 per cent of people and in Australia around 900 people are diagnosed with AML each year. Only ten to 15 per cent of AML patients carry the TP53 mutation so opening the treatment to a broader group is very beneficial.
Azacitadine is the only approved treatment available for MDS and AML and is successful in achieving a complete remission in 14 per cent and seven percent of patients respectively.
The research is published in Science Advances.