Garvan launches Genomic Cancer Medicine Program for rare cancers

In Australia, around 52,000 people will be diagnosed with rare and less common (RLC) cancers in 2017, and 25,000 will die from them, according to estimates by Cancer in Australia 2017.

RLC cancers are defined as those cancers that affect fewer than 1 in 12,000 people. While rare individually, collectively rare and less common cancers account for 30% of cancer diagnoses and 50% of cancer deaths in Australia, according to Garvan. There are 186 types of rare cancer from ovarian cancer to chordoma (a cancer of the spine).

To improve the outcome for patients with rare cancer, Garvan has launched a nationally available Genomic Cancer Medicine Program with two main areas of focus — clinical trials matching patients to therapies and a risk-management program for families with an inherited high risk of cancer. It gives hope to patients who have exhausted other treatment options.

The NSW government invested $7 million over four years into the Genomic Cancer Medicine Program as part of a bigger $24 million investment through the Sydney Genomics Collaborative.  “The NSW government recognises the extraordinary potential of genomics in helping researchers better understand the role genes play in cancer risks as well as identifying new therapies to improve patient outcomes,” said NSW Minister for Health and Minister for Medical Research Brad Hazzard.

The program was developed by the Garvan Institute in partnership with the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre and led by head of the Cancer Division at the Garvan Institute and director of The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Professor David Thomas, and director of the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, Professor John Simes.

Professor Thomas said, “The Genomic Cancer Medicine Program is changing how we treat rare cancers. Clinical trials are the essential foundation for the provision of new drugs. Yet, in the past, rare cancer patients haven’t been able to benefit from clinical trials.

“Through our new understanding of the genomic basis of cancer, we can, for the first time, match patients with therapies on the basis of their and their cancer’s genetic profile — instead of treating cancer according to where in the body it occurs. Indeed, many cancers traditionally thought to be tissue-specific are actually caused by the same mutations,” he said.

Professor Simes said, “The clinical trials program is using an adaptive design assessing several possible trial treatments at the same time with each trial treatment matched to the patient’s cancer genetic profile. This should allow effective treatments to be identified more quickly and efficiently than with a traditional clinical trial’s program.”

Professor John Mattick AO FAA, executive director of the Garvan Institute, said the program was a prime example of leading-edge research and genomic technologies having a direct impact on the lives of those affected by cancer.

In addition to personalised treatments, the program seeks to understand the genetic basis of cancer risk, especially in those who develop cancer at a young age. The researchers are developing personalised screening approaches that can catch cancers at an early stage, giving the best possible chance of successful treatment.

Dr Mandy Ballinger, leader of the Cancer Risk Study, said the Genomic Cancer Medicine Program had already received overwhelming interest.

“So far we have more than 230 people enrolled in our clinical studies entirely through word of mouth. We’ve had people come to Sydney from as far as Perth and New Zealand,” she said.

Patients with rare and young onset cancers are encouraged to email gcmp@garvan.org.au to find out about the program.