Your donation will make a difference to the lives of people living with cancer
As Australia's only public hospital solely dedicated to overcoming cancer, we have the privilege to be closely involved with all our patients, their families and carers. At Peter Mac we get to see the real difference cancer research has on the lives of people living with cancer.
How your support helps people impacted by cancer
Meet Anna
Anna was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of cancer at 29 years old.
Before her diagnosis, Anna says, she and her partner Sian were happily “just doing life”. But their world was shattered by three simple words: ‘you have cancer’.
At the age of 29, Anna was fit and healthy, going for regular 10k runs with Sian. She dabbled in pottery, was renovating her apartment, and was joyfully planning a European holiday.
Her life was interrupted when she began experiencing a pain in her jaw that simply wouldn’t go away.
It turned out to be an aggressive form of cancer called Ewing sarcoma. And a subtype so rare only 90 people have ever been diagnosed with it in that part of the body.
Your support is urgently needed to accelerate cancer research and help save the lives of people like Anna.
Meet Zach
"When you get told that there's no set treatment or cure for your cancer because there are not enough funds to do research on your particular type of cancer, it's an eye opener."
When Zach was diagnosed with a rare type of head and neck cancer he was told that there was no standard pathway through treatment for him. Unfortunately, his cancer is so rare that research simply hasn't found a proven way to treat it yet.
At Peter Mac, there are researchers determined to discover cures for all cancers, including the very rare ones.
Zach remains hopeful that a cure will be found for his cancer.
Please help Peter Mac researchers discover the next breakthrough in cancer research
Our researchers rely on generous donations just like yours, to continue their search for more cancer cures and better treatments.
Professor Alexander Heriot
"When you get told that there's no set treatment or cure for your cancer because there are not enough funds available to do research on your particular type of cancer, it's an eye opener."
As Peter Mac's Clinical Director of Cancer Surgery, Professor Alexander Heriot and his team are taking the lead in exciting research around progressing and refining personalised treatments to treat every individual's cancer.
By doing this, they can discover which treatments will work best for an individual patient before they begin their treatment plan. Your support will help detailed and important research like this continue.
Dr Kristin Brown
"We still have so much to learn about cancers. We are making progress but without research we can't make the advances we need to come up with new therapies or new ways to diagnose cancer."
Dr Kristin Brown’s research is investigating how to stop cancer cells rewiring their own metabolism in response to chemotherapy, to prevent them from becoming treatment-resistant.
As we continue to advance our understanding of cancer, Peter Mac researchers are determined to make new breakthroughs, breakthroughs that will save lives.
Professor Constantine Tam
"I think at Peter Mac the core culture is that we're not happy with the current state of cancer. And so we're always trying to advance, to develop new treatments, to improve on what we already have."
Professor Constantine (Con) Tam is a leading expert in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Con’s work has led to therapies for blood cancers that are more effective than traditional chemotherapy, with fewer side-effects.
His work provides the exciting potential to cure what were once incurable cancers.
"I want to be able to make a difference - advance treatment for patients with all cancers."
"The only way we can do better is with research." Dr Alesha Thai’s work is focused on head and neck cancers – but the discoveries and breakthroughs she makes in this field have the potential to translate into all cancer types. Supporters like you are helping Dr Thai investigate a way to improve the likelihood of patients getting the most effective treatment for their cancer type, by testing treatments on their tumour in the lab.
Read more about Dr Thai's research