CancerMatters
Issue 22 | Summer 2018
CancerMatters NewsletterDear colleague Welcome to the first electronic only edition of CancerMatters. 2018 has been a milestone year. The Western Australian Clinical Oncology Group (WACOG) was established at Cancer Council WA in 1996, over 20 years ago, to deliver medical specialist cancer education on behalf of the WA Department of Health. This year has seen a number of changes for WACOG based on the review many of you would have contributed to through interviews, meetings or by completing an online
survey. Read more about the review and the future of WACOG below:
Australia's success with cervical cancerAustralia is on the way to be the first country in the world to eliminate cervical cancer due to the positive result of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccination program in conjunction with the updated National Cervical Screening Program. The current research from Cancer Council NSW has made such a significant impact that it is predicted that cervical cancer is likely to be considered a rare cancer by 2022. Professor Karen Canfell, Director of Research at Cancer Council NSW said, “The World Health Organization recently called for
action to eliminate cervical cancer. This is such exciting news for women across Australia. We’ve been leading the way in cervical cancer control for many years and we’ll be sharing our research and approaches with the rest of the world as part of a global push to eliminate this highly preventable cancer.”
COAG Health Council Communique - 12 October 2018 On the 12th of October, federal, state and territory Health Ministers met in Adelaide at the COAG Health Council to discuss a range of national health issues. Several items were raised that are relevant to cancer care and control. - Obesity – Health Ministers agreed upon the development of a national strategy especially related to early childhood and rural and regional issues which will focus on social determinants of health and both primary and
secondary prevention measures.
- Australian Brain Cancer Mission – Health Ministers agreed to support the aim of doubling survival rates and improving quality of life of those afflicted.
- Immunotherapy treatment - A chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy is available for certain types of childhood leukemia and adult lymphoma. The Ministers agreed to expedite the availability of this treatment, following approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Medical Services Advisory Committee
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) licences - Ministers discussed approaches of implementing new licences to areas of greatest
service need.
- National dust disease register - Clinical Principal Committee to assess the creation of a national register. Safe Work Australia to further examine and update Australian standards for Crystaline silica and the trading of imported stone products.
Terrie’s tips help WA smokers to quitTerrie started smoking in high school and didn’t quit until she was diagnosed with oral and throat cancer in 2001. She was only 40 years old. Since June 2018, Make Smoking History has been airing a series of confronting television ads featuring Terrie which graphically display the debilitating impact of head and neck cancers. As each ad concludes the viewer learns that cancer from smoking killed Terrie when she was just 53 years old. Her last ad was filmed, at her request, just days before she died.
Research continues to prove that anti-smoking ads which are graphic, emotional, and feature real people are the most effective in prompting quit attempts. Terrie’s ads were originally part of a broader campaign a called ‘Tips From Former Smokers’ in the United States. After it aired for the first time in 2012, it was estimated that the campaign prompted 1.64 million smokers attempted to quit smoking, and around 100,000 smokers quit for good. The Terrie ads also produced positive results in other States in Australia, which further strengthened the case to air the ads in WA. The post-evaluation results for the first burst of advertising activity in WA (June-August) found that 76% of smokers interviewed either cut down, attempted to quit or quit smoking while the ads
were on air. This is one of our highest ever results for that measure. The Terrie ads resonated very strongly with smokers, as demonstrated by the high awareness (70%) and convincingness (79%) of the ads, and perceived effectiveness at encouraging smokers to quit (69%).
Linear Cancer Trials UpdateLinear launched Linear Cancer Trials in July 2018, continuing their strong focus on delivering new cancer treatments to the patients of Western Australia. Plans are underway to build a state of the art, 20 bed cancer trials facility on the ground floor, B block, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, with a completion target in Q4 of 2019.
The study for the future of women’s cancers: TRACEBACKTRACEBACK is a ground-breaking study that aims to reduce new cases of ovarian and breast cancer in Australia. TRACEBACK identifies people that have an increased risk of developing cancer because of inherited mutations in cancer risk genes, including BRCA1 and BRCA2. Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 increase lifetime risk of several cancers but are most common in ovarian cancer, occurring in 15-20% of women with ovarian cancer. TRACEBACK provides genetic testing for women who have had a diagnosis of ovarian cancer but have not previously received testing,
including the testing of tissue samples from women who were diagnosed between the years 2000-2016 and have since passed away. Identifying gene mutations in women with ovarian cancer allows families to become aware of their hereditary risk and provides an opportunity to take steps to reduce their cancer risk. TRACEBACK is a collaboration between the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Ovarian Cancer Australia (OCA) and other major hospitals and research sites across Australia.
New SunSmart campaign gets under the skin of West AustraliansAustralia has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world. There were more than 87,000 skin cancer treatments and 235 deaths from skin cancer in Western Australia in 2014. In addition, treatment of skin cancer is estimated to cost WA more than $90 million per year. However, skin cancer is largely preventable, and with this in mind, Cancer Council WA has recently launched a brand new summer campaign across metropolitan and regional WA to encourage West Australians to take better care of their skin.
Global Cancer Observatory The new Globocan interactive web-based platform was released in September this year. The Global Cancer Observatory (GCO) is an interactive web-based platform presenting global cancer statistics used to inform cancer control and research. The platform focuses on the visualisation of cancer indicators to illustrate the changing scale, epidemiological profile, and impact of the disease worldwide. The GCO covers the incidence and mortality in 185 countries for 36 different types of cancer and for all cancer sites combined. Globocan 2018 estimates that there
will be around 18.1 million new cancer cases (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) and 9.6 million cancer deaths in 2018. In both sexes combined, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death, closely followed by female breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Silica dust - the new asbestos?In September 2018, Industrial Relations Minister Grace issued an urgent safety warning and a ban on dry cutting for workers and employers in Queensland’s engineered stone benchtop manufacturing industry due to workers occupational exposure to silica dust.
Clinical Trials Governance Framework ProjectThe Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) has been contracted by the Australian Government Department of Health on behalf of all jurisdictions to develop the national Clinical Trials Governance Framework as a first step towards a nationally consistent accreditation process for health services undertaking clinical trials. The Commission is conducting consultations nationally with key organisations and individuals with an interest or working in the clinical trials sector. The information gathered from the consultative workshops will be used to inform the
Clinical Trials Governance Framework.
COSA - 13- 15 November 2018The 45th COSA Annual scientific meeting was held from the 13-15 November this year at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. Focussing on gastro-intestinal (GI) cancer and mesothelioma, the scientific program offered a diverse range of presentations and workshops from local, interstate and international experts. For access to the full program and all abstracts click the link below.
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