Chris O’Brien Lifehouse · Rebecca Davies, Board Director on Lifehouse Research Committee Over...

Chris O’Brien LifehouseResearch Report 2015

Research Report 2015 1

Professor Chris O’Brien AO3 January 1952 – 4 June 2009

Professor Chris O’Brien AOMS MD FRCS (HON) FRACS (3 Jan 1952 - 4 Jun 2009)

Chris O’Brien was a man of leadership, vision and courage. He inspired people, both through his work as a cancer specialist and through his own three-year battle with an aggressive brain tumour.

Chris transformed his personal adversity into a national opportunity, using his experience to fight so much harder for cancer patients and their families. Chris’ vision was for an integrated cancer treatment centre, where patients would no longer have to navigate their way through all the different elements of dealing with their illness alone. His vision was realised with the opening of Chris O’Brien Lifehouse to patients on 19 November 2013.

Born in 1952, Chris grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney and studied medicine at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1976. After completing his residency and surgical training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, (RPAH), Chris specialised in head and neck surgery and completed clinical fellowships in England and the USA before returning to Australia in 1987 to join the staff at RPAH as a consultant head and neck surgeon.

There he contributed to the expansion of the clinical service, making it one of the largest in the country. Chris also established a basic research and international clinical fellowship program under the Sydney Head and Neck Cancer Institute, which he founded in 2002.

Chris held two postgraduate degrees from the University of Sydney - a Masters of Surgery for his basic research in microvascular surgery and a Doctorate in Medicine for his internationally recognised work on the management of metastatic cancer involving the parotid gland and neck, particularly cutaneous melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.

He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and in 1998 founded the Australian and New Zealand Head and Neck Society, a multidisciplinary society comprising surgeons of all disciplines, radiation and medical oncologists, and allied health professionals, and of which Chris was President in 2004.

In 2003 Professor O’Brien became of Director of the Sydney Cancer Centre, based at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He developed a proposal to transform the Sydney Cancer Centre into a world-class comprehensive cancer centre - Lifehouse.

Chris was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour in November 2006 and stepped down from all of his clinical and administrative positions to focus on his therapy and treatment.

Chris maintained a positive and confident outlook throughout the following few years undergoing numerous operations and a variety of treatments including complementary therapies to ease the symptoms and side effects he was experiencing. He continued to work tirelessly on the promotion and future construction of an integrated cancer centre (Lifehouse), which would focus on the needs and support of cancer patients, their families and carers.

The proposal to transform the Sydney Cancer Centre into a world-class comprehensive cancer centre gained the backing of the federal and state governments and was officially launched in April 2009. On Australia Day 2005 Chris was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to medicine and on the eve of his death (4 June 2009) he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).


Director’s Report Rebecca Davies, Board Director on Lifehouse Research Committee

Over the past year, as Chris O’Brien Lifehouse has become fully operational, we are steadfastly committed to the vision of embedding research into everything we do.

Our state of the art facility provides an ideal location to achieve this goal, with opportunities for collaboration within the campus and beyond, by strengthening relationships with world class institutions across Australia and internationally. This matters, both because we believe that working together will result in speedier and more effective research, but also moving more quickly to practical impacts for our patients.

We are immensely grateful to all the researchers who have contributed to our successes this year. For those of us outside the system, it is inspiring to know that so many are dedicated to achieving their best, even though sometimes their efforts take many long hours, many setbacks and challenges before they bear fruit. And our clinical researchers and staff do all this on top of caring for patients and their loved ones.

This year we held our first Lifehouse Research Symposium, and I was fortunate to attend much of the day. I’ll admit I didn’t follow absolutely everything, but what was easy to see was the passion, the enthusiasm, and the goodwill from all present, with a strong drive to bring the benefits of some amazing work to those we serve.

And that’s why we’re committed to this vision. We’re here to help our patients and their families at a time of challenge. Ensuring they receive the best treatment based on the strongest evidence is what we’re about. Research is integral to that aim. We are grateful to all our patients who have volunteered so generously to be part of this effort – without you nothing could be achieved.

This report highlights some of the amazing people working in research at Lifehouse and what has been accomplished. But we know there is much to do, and we all look forward to building on these successes into the future.

4 Research Report 2015


Contents Director’s Report ..................................................................................................................................................... 3

Director of Research ............................................................................................................................................... 6

Research Committee Members ........................................................................................................................... 8

Researcher profile: Angela Hong ....................................................................................................................... 9

Patient profile: Brad Selman ..............................................................................................................................10

Program profile: Gynaeoncology Fast Track .................................................................................................11

Medical Oncology ..................................................................................................................................................12

Radiation Oncology ...............................................................................................................................................14

Breast ..........................................................................................................................................................................16

Gynaeoncology .......................................................................................................................................................17

HNSCC ........................................................................................................................................................................18

Integrative Medicine ............................................................................................................................................20

Lifehouse Affiliates in the building ...................................................................................................................21

NHMRC CTC

CEMPed

CNRU

Sydney Catalyst

RPA Institute for Surgical Research

Research publications ...........................................................................................................................................24

Medical Oncology Publications

Radiation Oncology Publications

Breast Cancer Surgery Research Publications

Gynaecologic Oncology Research Publications

Head and Neck Cancer Research Publications

Integrative Medicine Research Publications


Over the last 18 months, we have been able to focus on how to integrate the clinical and research streams, including the University of Sydney Research groups within the building and our collaborative networks.

The consensus of our strategic planning group was that Lifehouse should be an integrated cancer centre with patient-focused research. The research program should be clinically and translationally based to achieve the goal of a clinical research centre for bench-to-bedside translational research, implementation research and clinical outcomes. There should be a focus on areas that are strengths and differentiate Lifehouse from other cancer centres, in

particular surgical oncology research, radiation biology, uncommon cancers and early phase clinical trials of experimental therapeutics. Lifehouse should become the clinical research hub of a collaborative network of cancer researchers, in which scientists come to test their research hypotheses in the clinical setting. The net result will be the integration of cancer research into healthcare.

A key question raised was, “Why do patients come to a cancer centre that has a strong research program?”. This is an important aspect of the research plan. The consensus was that patients feel that their clinicians will be up-to-date with the latest research and therefore they will receive the most effective treatment. They are also optimistic that they as patients may benefit from new research, and altruistic in that their participation in research may help others in the future.

The Lifehouse Research strategic planning process was facilitated by the Lucy McGrath Visiting Professor Christopher Sweeney, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and included representatives from cancer research groups within Lifehouse and across the Camperdown precinct as well as patient representatives.

The Lifehouse research report for 2015 demonstrates the depth of research already underway within the cancer centre and its collaborative network with over 170 publications, more than 100 national and international presentations, around 50 grants and 40 postgraduate students (Masters and PhD). The Lifehouse Research report should be read as a collaborative report, as Lifehouse researchers often have many roles, numerous affiliations and do their research as part of networks. The inaugural Lifehouse Research Symposium was held in September 2015, with more than 100 participants, and the Clinical Research Unit expanded its activities to provide research infrastructure to all groups within the cancer centre.

The next year will bring new opportunities to build on our success. We have set up a key collaboration with Griffith University to explore the Cancer Glycome with the Institute for Glycomics in Queensland, funded by a $2 million philanthropic grant. We will open a collaborative study between Lifehouse, the University of Sydney and Tilray, funded by the NSW government, to assess the role of cannabis as an anti-nausea therapy in chemotherapy. We will also appoint three new conjoint chairs with the University of Sydney in Cancer Robotic Surgery, Medical Oncology (Genitourinary) and Medical Oncology (Thoracic Oncology). The future is bright and getting brighter for patients who will benefit from this research.

Research Director’s Report Professor Lisa Horvath

Chris O’Brien Lifehouse has now been open for ambulatory care for over two years, and for inpatients for just over12 months.


Lifehouse Clinical Research Unit

Total of 86 clinical trialsTotal number of patients screened - 449Totals number of patients recruited – 191

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Number of trials patients seen in Lifehouse


Total of 86 clinical trialsTotal number of patients screened - 449Totals number of patients recruited – 191

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Total of 86 clinical trialsTotal number of patients screened – 449Totals number of patients recruited – 191


Collaborative NetworksCollaborative Networks

University of Sydney

NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, Cancer Nursing

Research Unit, CeMPED, Surgical

Outcomes Research Centre (SOuRCe)

Pharma/Biotec

Other Cancer Centres

NSW eg Concord, Westmead, St

Vincent’s, POW, Coffs Harbour, Newcastle

VIC eg Peter MacCallum, Royal

Melbourne, MonashSA eg SAHMRI

International eg DFCI, USC, PMCC

Sydney CatalystTranslational Cancer

Research Centre

National Cancer Consortia

AGITG, ANZBCTG, ANZUP, ANGOG, ASSG,

POCOG

Chris O’Brien Lifehouse

Medical Oncology Radiation Oncology

Head & NeckSurgeryBreast Surgery Gynaecological

Oncology

RPA Institute of Academic Surgery

RPA departmentsUpper GI surgery,

neurosurgery, colorectal surgery, urology,

melanoma, orthopedics, cardiothoracic surgery,

gastroenterology, pathology, haematology,

respiratory

Research InstitutesGarvan Institute / The

Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Centenary Institute, ADRI,

Charles Perkins Centre, ANZAC Institute, Melanoma

Institute of Australia, Institute of Glycomics

Patient - focused ResearchPatient-focused Research

Surgical ResearchE.g new

devices & techniques

Supportive care

E.g nursing, psychology, primary care

Collaborations – research institutes, biotech, pharma, universities

Clinical Tumour Streams

Clinical Trials

E.g new drugs

Translational studiesE.g new

biomarkers


Research Committee members

Rebecca Davies Board Director, Lifehouse

Michael Boyer Clinical Director, Lifehouse

Chris Milross Director of Radiation Oncology, Lifehouse

Jonathan Carter/Sam Saidi Director of Gynaecological Oncology, Lifehouse

Jonathan Clark Research Lead Head and Neck Surgery, Lifehouse

Sanjay Warrier Research Lead Breast Surgery, Lifehouse

Christopher Young Head of Colorectal Surgery, RPAH

Paul Stalley Sarcoma tumour stream lead, RPAH/Lifehouse

Charbel Sandroussi Head of Upper GIT surgery, RPAH

Paul Bannon Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery, RPAH

Stephen Larsen Research Lead Haematology, RPAH

Graham Mann Research Director, Melanoma Institute of Australia

John Boulas Head of Urology, RPAH

James Kench Head, Cancer Diagnostics and Tissue Pathology, RPAH

Stuart Grieve Research Lead Radiology, RPAH

John Simes/ Martin Stockler Director/Co-directors, NHMRC CTC

Kate White Head, Cancer Nursing Research Unit

Phyllis Butow Head, CeMPED

Michael Solomon Director, RPA Institute of Academic Surgery

Julie Charlton Research Governance Manager, Lifehouse

Christine Merlino NUM, Clinical Research Unit, Lifehouse

Ellie Martel Head of Communications, Lifehouse

Jason Shauness Head of Foundation, Lifehouse

Martin McGee-Collett Head of Neurosurgery, RPAH

Natalka Suchowerska Head of Physics Research, Lifehouse

Toni Lindsay Head of Psycho-oncology, Lifehouse

Eileen Hannagan CEO, Lifehouse

David Barnes Thoracic Oncology tumour stream lead, RPAH

Jane Young Research Director, RPA Institute of Academic Surgery

Nick Shackel RPAH Research Commiittee

David Gattas Research Lead ICU, Lifehouse

Lyndal Trevena USYD Primary Health

Bev Noble Lifehouse Partnership Council


Researcher Profile: Angela Hong

Dr Angela Hong is a Radiation Oncologist at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, treating cancer patients with radiotherapy.As a radiation oncologist I look after patients with cancer by using radiotherapy, which is an integral part of cancer treatment. I specialise in sarcoma, skin and haematology, and find the diversity really interesting. I have a PhD in sarcoma and research has always been part of my clinical work.

The research we do here at Lifehouse really differentiates us from other centres. We are a very new organisation, open for just over two years now, but there are more trials being opened here and we’re recruiting good staff.

Ultimately Lifehouse is a patient centre, which means as clinical researchers we are able to bring patients and basic scientists together. We can take our clinical questions to the scientists – why isn’t a patient responding, what other techniques could we apply – and the scientists can bring their research questions to our clinical base.

One of our recent examples of how research helps our patients is the work that has been done on stereotactic treatments, which is a form of radiotherapy that involves delivering one big dose of radiation to patients with secondary cancer in the brain. The research confirmed the technique was effective so we now do a lot of these treatments here.

Some of my most rewarding research work has been looking at the Human Papilloma Virus and head and neck cancers. We coordinated a large study to gather information about the incidence of head and neck cancers in men. We were looking at whether the vaccination that is available for girls to help protect against cervical cancer would benefit boys as well in preventing head and neck cancers. Our research showed this was the case so our evidence was provided to the Department of Health and now boys can access the vaccination as well as girls, which is a great result.

The hardest part of my job is seeing patients that we don’t have a cure for, especially younger patients. This is why research is so important: it’s the day to day dealing with patients that drives us to do research, to understand cancer and to look at ways to improve outcomes. The clinical side of my job drives the research.

“Research really is the way forward – whether it’s drug treatments, radiotherapy or new delivery methods, it’s the way we move forward to finding a cure.”


Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer affecting the surface of the lungs, and is caused by asbestos exposure. A new treatment – TargomiRs – uses tiny cells (EDVTMnanocells) loaded with a microRNA that is deficient in mesothelioma.

The nanocells are administered to patients through an infusion as they sit in a chemotherapy chair, with the aim of restoring the body’s natural tumour-suppressing mechanisms.

The trial is a cooperative project involving the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute (ADRI), EnGeneIC, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, the Northern Cancer Institute, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, New South Wales Cancer Council and The University of Sydney.

Brad Selman is one of the first people in the world to try this treatment, trialled at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.

“I started as an apprentice plumber. I know where my exposure was. As an apprentice, I worked on a lot of housing commission buildings – they were all fibro houses back then. I renovated over 100 fibro houses at Chester Hill, Greenacre and Jannali. I had to cut the fibro sheets with a grinder so we could put the plumbing in the walls. I was always cutting those sheets. Even though I wore a mask for what I considered was just nuisance dust, we didn’t know it was a danger. I may not have had the mask on all the time. The dust was everywhere.

“I was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2013. I was in shock. I was devastated. The optimum time for it to appear is 40 years after exposure, so this was early.

I was really hopeful going on the trial. That’s what I was hoping for, for a long time. I was hopeful that it would work.

“And progressively I felt better. The pain stopped. All of a sudden, I could yawn without restriction.

“Now, I can go bushwalking and walk up steep steps. I can do anything I want to do. I probably get less breathless than Karen. The lung function tests say I’m pretty normal. I feel this clinical trial has saved my life.

“I met Karen in 2010, just before all this started happening. She’s stuck by me through all this.

“We ended up getting married in November, because we didn’t know how long we had.

“Mesothelioma is something that always worried me, from the early ‘80s when the dangers were reported.

“It’s obviously also on the mind of other tradies. When I was diagnosed they were asking me what my symptoms were.”

Symptoms include shortness of breath, pain in the chest and sometimes nightsweats and weight loss. In Australia about 600 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year as a direct consequence of the widespread use of asbestos. This trial is ongoing.

Clinical Trials Profile: Brad Selman

“I was really hopeful going on the trial. That’s what I was hoping for, for a long time. I was hopeful that it would work.”


Program Profile: Gynaeoncology Fast Track

Patient Elizabeth Bisset had surgery to remove her uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries following the discovery of cancer cells in her endometrium.She shares her experience of the “Fast Track Surgery and Nurse-led Follow Up” program trialled at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse – a patient-centred approach using the latest evidence-based practice to improve a patient’s recovery from the stress of surgery and anaesthesia. Some of these include: minimising fasting before surgery, avoiding the use of drains and nasogastric tubes, letting patients eat and drink after surgery, encouraging patients to mobilise soon after surgery, minimising the use of narcotic medications, and an Advanced Practice Nurse providing one-on-one continuous support from pre-operation to follow-up care.

Patients are able to leave hospital earlier and spend more of their post-operation recovery time with their families, resulting in quicker recovery time. There is less pain, and more patients are eating and drinking again sooner, a sure sign of recovery.

The program now has eight years of data and many publications, has won several quality awards and was a finalist in the Premier’s Awards. The approach is being adopted by other gynaeoncology units in Australia and more local units in other specialities.

“About a year ago I was referred to a specialist due to symptoms, and was told I had a suspected high-grade gynaecological lesion. I was referred to Professor Carter and had several colposcopies over the course of the year and, at the last hysteroscopy, cancer cells were discovered in the endometrium. Five weeks ago I had surgery to remove my uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries.

“I met most of Professor Carter’s team over the course of the year. The follow-up after each appointment was marvellous, with emails and letters to both me and my GP. The cancer cell discovery and everything about the surgery was explained extremely well. From the minute I arrived at the hospital for the procedure itself, everything was on time and efficient, and I felt really safe.

“When I was heading home after surgery, Professor Carter said one of the team would call me over the weekend to check how I was going, and they did. It was very reassuring.

“I saw Shannon, the Clinical Nurse Specialist, one week after surgery and Professor Carter two weeks after. Professor Carter said that if my results are okay at six months he will pass my ongoing care to the Clinical Nurse Specialist, which I’m very happy about.

“As a nurse myself, I felt reassured that if things were to go badly I would be well taken care of.”

“When I was heading home after surgery, Professor Carter said one of the team would call me over the weekend to check how I was going, and they did. It was very reassuring.”


Medical Oncology

Prof Lisa Horvath MBBS FRACP PhD (Director of Medical Oncology)

A/Prof Philip Beale MBBS FRACP PhD

A/Prof Jane Beith MBBS FRACP PhD

Dr Vivek Bhadri MBBS FRACP PhD

Prof Michael Boyer AM MBBS FRACP PhD

A/Prof Peter Grimison MBBS FRACP PhD

Dr Michelle Harrison BSc (Med) MBBS FRACP

Dr Steven Kao MBBS FRACP PhD

Dr Kate Mahon MBBS FRACP PhD

A/Prof Catriona McNeil MBBS FRACP PhD

Prof John Simes BSc (Med) MBBS FRACP SM MD

Prof Martin Stockler MBBS FRACP MSc (Clin Epi)

Prof Martin Tattersall AO MBBS FRACP PhD

Prof David Thomas MBBS FRACP PhD

Publications 80*

National/International Presentations 57

Grants 42

Students 16

*Includes co-publications with other Lifehouse departments.

Research HighlightsThe Department of Medical Oncology has a long history of research productivity through collaboration and co-appointments. These include clinical appointments at Royal Prince Alfred, Concord and Liverpool hospitals, academic appointments at the University of Sydney and University of New South Wales and research appointments at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, the Garvan Institute for Medical Research, the Melanoma Institute of Australia and the Asbestos Diseases Research Centre.

Several of the clinical staff hold senior positions in other institutions, including Prof John Simes, who is the Director of the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre; Prof Martin Stockler, who is Co-Director of the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre; Prof David Thomas, who is Head of The Kinghorn Cancer Centre; and A/Prof Philip Beale, who is the Director of Cancer Services for the Sydney Local Health District.

The research output from the Department of Medical Oncology crosses the fields of cancer biology, genomics, biomarker studies, clinical trials and supportive care/psycho- oncology research.

There have been a number of studies which have changed oncology clinical practice and the key ones are listed below:

A/Prof Peter Grimison led a study assessing the compliance of males with stage I testicular germ cell tumour on an active surveillance protocol. At a median follow-up of 24 months, 81% had adequate compliance, 12% were lost to follow-up and 16% had relapsed. This study has contributed to the adoption of surveillance as the standard approach for most stage I testicular cancer patients, and was adopted by the Australia and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate (ANZUP) Cancer Trials Group in standard recommendations on the website in March 2016.

A/Prof Catriona McNeil contributed significantly to an international multicentre trial of immunotherapy in metastatic melanoma considering pembrolizumab versus ipilumumab. Pembrolizumab significantly improved survival for patients with advanced melanoma. A/Prof McNeil was an author on the New England Journal of Medicine paper, which resulted in PBS listing of pembrolizumab for advanced melanoma at the end of 2015.


The Department of Medical Oncology has an extensive clinical trial portfolio, which represents around 90% of the activity of the Lifehouse Clinical Research Unit.

Over the last 12 months, we have had a significant increase in our Phase I trial activity, in particular the first-in-man component. This means that our patients have access to cutting edge therapeutics at a very early stage of development. To enhance access to our trials, we have joined the new ClinTrial Refer Oncology NSW app being run by the Clinical Cancer Research Network in Newcastle. This allows oncologists from across NSW to access up-to-date information on clinical trials and refer patients to the appropriate centre.



A/Prof Christopher Milross MBBS MD FRANZCR FRACMA FAICD (Director of Radiation Oncology)

A/Prof Angela Hong MBBS MMed PhD FRANZCR

A/Prof George Hruby BHB MBBS FRANZCR

Dr Susan Carroll MBBS FRANZCR

Dr Joanne Toohey MBBS FRANZCR FRACP MRCP

Dr Mo Mo Tin MBBS FRANZCR

Dr Regina Tse MBBS MClinEpi FRANZCR

A/Prof Kerwyn Foo BSc MBBS FRANZCR

Dr Leily Rezaei MBBS FRANZCR

Dr Nitya Patanjali MBBS FRANZCR

Publications 44*


Grants 4

Students 4

*Includes co-publications with other Lifehouse departments

Research HighlightsTwo pivotal studies from the Lifehouse Radiation Oncology Group have assessed factors affecting radiotherapy access and usage, given the data demonstrating that radiation therapy usage in Australia is below recommended evidence-based benchmarks. Two-thirds of health providers (medical, radiation and surgical oncologists), physicians (including palliative care), and general practitioners with an interest in oncology, perceived acute side effects of radiotherapy, their management and impact on daily commitments, as well as fear and anxiety about radiotherapy, to exert moderate to significant influence on radiotherapy decisions. Treatment-related travel, the need for accommodation and relocation were also perceived by 64% of health providers to do the same.

Over half of health providers rated concern regarding late effects of radiotherapy, disruption to family and work life, and the ability to organise family and work commitments around radiotherapy, as moderate to significant influences on radiotherapy uptake.

A second study demonstrated that improving the affordability of radiotherapy through publicly-funded transport and radiotherapy at out-of-area facilities did not improve breast-conserving therapy uptake in a region where radiotherapy was locally available, albeit at cost to the user. Improving both affordability and convenience through the provision of local publicly-funded radiotherapy increased breast-conserving therapy uptake. Service availability and affordability have long been recognised as important determinants of radiotherapy access. These findings suggest that inconvenience may also influence the use of radiotherapy.

There have been several improvements in how radiation treatment is prescribed, which are related to research between clinicians and physicists. There is a clear link between irregular breathing and errors in medical imaging and radiation treatment. The audiovisual biofeedback system is an advanced form of respiratory guidance that has previously been demonstrated to facilitate regular patient breathing. The clinical benefits of audiovisual biofeedback will be investigated in an upcoming multi-institutional, randomised, and stratified clinical trial recruiting a total of 75 lung cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy, including patients treated at Lifehouse.

Another study addressed the issue of temporary tissue expanders with metallic ports for gradual saline injection, which are increasingly being employed to facilitate breast reconstruction after post- mastectomy radiotherapy. These metallic ports may, in theory, decrease the radiation dose. This study demonstrated that there was no clinically significant change in the radiation dose in these patients.

Medical Oncology


Breast Cancer SurgeryA/Prof Hugh Carmalt MBBS FRACS FRCS (Director of Breast Cancer Surgery)

Dr Cindy Mak MBBS (Hons) FRACS

A/Prof Sanjay Warrier BSc (Med) MBBS FRACS MS

Publications 8*


Grants 2

Students 2


Research HighlightsThe breast cancer multidisciplinary team encompasses specialist breast cancer surgeons, pathologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists. A recent study from the group exemplifies the multidisciplinary research done by this group and the longstanding collaboration with The Kinghorn Cancer Centre/Garvan Institute Breast Cancer Research Group. Local recurrence and distant failure after adjuvant radiation therapy for breast cancer remain significant clinical problems, incompletely predicted by conventional clinicopathologic markers. The expression of potential microRNA biomarkers were assessed in 458 patients treated with radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery. The study found that microRNA that affect DNA repair and cell cycle control can identify patients at high risk of treatment failure (local recurrence) in those receiving radiation therapy for early breast cancer. This suggests some of these microRNA biomarkers should be further investigated, especially TOP2A and SKP2, for which targeted therapies are available.

This year has been highly productive with regards to setting up new research projects with the RPA Institute of Academic Surgery, in particular relating to clinical care of breast cancer patients. The group has commenced a pivotal study looking at the assessment of skin flap viability by a new technology: laser assisted indocyanine green angiography (SPY). This study examines how the SPY assessment impacts a surgeon’s decision making in breast reconstruction surgery.

The breast group is also working on projects as diverse as the use of new radiology techniques in breast cancer surgery, the use of different dressings, and a study assessing radiology findings in Breastscreen patients and the association with pre-cancerous lesions.


Gynaecologic OncologyProf Jonathan Carter MBBS Dip RACOG FACS FRANZCOG CGO MS MD (Director of Gynaecologic Oncology)

A/Prof Selvan Pather MBChB FCOG FRANZCOG CGO

A/Prof Sam Saidi MBChB MRCOG FRANZCOG PhD

A/Prof Trevor Tejada-Berges MD MSc FRCPSC FACOG FRANZCOG

Publications 9*


Grants 1

Students 5


Research HighlightsA key area of research for the Lifehouse Department of Gynaecologic Oncology has been fast-track surgery (FTS), a multimodal approach to the management of surgical patients, which requires the successful organisation of all members of the health care team. Two studies were carried out to explore patients’ experience and satisfaction with FTS and with the associated Fast Track Nurse (FTN).

A self-administered satisfaction questionnaire incorporating the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) cancer in-patient satisfaction with care measure (INPATSAT-32) questionnaire with additional questions was administered to 106 gynaecology participants. Participants reported high levels of

satisfaction with patient care and support received from doctors, ward nurses and the hospital within the context of a fast-track surgical program.

The studies suggest that the advantages of a fast-track program support the idea of nurse coordination of treatment throughout surgery and the post- discharge phase for gynaecological oncology patients. Early hospital discharge after gynaecological surgery results in both enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) and high levels of patient satisfaction. A further analysis of fast-track surgery compared fast-track open hysterectomy (FTOH) with total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH), a minimally invasive surgical approach to hysterectomy. Although the fast-track

approach to open surgery minimises its impact it is associated with a longer hospital stay than total laparoscopic hysterectomy albeit with lower cost of intraoperative consumables.

This modelled analysis showed that the costs of both approaches are initially comparable, but that the laparoscopic approach becomes cheaper once a learning curve of cases was completed. The average cost reduction following a learning curve was found to be $1,850 per case, a significant cost saving. Moreover, this meant less time in hospital for patients and more support at home to recover from surgery.

Ovarian cancer, when in its early stage, can be difficult to detect or to differentiate from benign disease, potentially leading to overtreatment of young women in particular. Another recent study by our department demonstrated the effectiveness of HE4 as a sensitive and specific marker for ovarian cancer, which performed well when differentiating benign from malignant disease. Furthermore HE4 performed better than the traditional ovarian cancer marker (Ca125) in both pre- and post-menopausal women. The study demonstrated the utility of this marker in the assessment of indeterminate complex adnexal masses and may help to reduce the burden of surgery in younger women.

Prof Jonathan Carter


Head and Neck SurgeryA/Prof Carsten Palme MBBS FRACS (Director of Head and Neck Surgery)

A/Prof Jonathan Clark MBBS (Hons 1) BSc (Med) MBiostat FRACS

A/Prof Michael Elliott MBBS MPhil FRACS

A/Prof Sydney Ch’ng MBBS FRACS PhD

Dr Anthony Clifford MBBS FRACS

Dr Kerwin Shannon MBBS FRACS

Dr Hubert Low MBBS BSc (Med) (Hons) FRACS

Publications 32*


Grants 5

Students 20

A/Prof Sydney Ch’ng - Young Researcher Award, Sydney Local Health District, 2015


Research HighlightsThe Lifehouse Head and Neck unit undertakes a broad range of research into disease outcomes (recurrence and survival) following surgery and radiotherapy, clinicopathological prognostic markers, patient-reported outcomes (QoL), patient education and reconstructive techniques. The Sydney Head and Neck Cancer Institute’s (SHNCI) head and neck database brings together data from collaborators across Sydney and has been the cornerstone to facilitate these studies. In addition, collaborations with the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, the University of Sydney, the University of Wollongong, the University of NSW and the University of Technology Sydney have facilitated a rapidly growing basic science and translational research program. The unit continues to undertake a variety of research projects and support individuals with particular interests, however there are four areas of focus:

Advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC)

The focus of this work is the identification of molecular prognostic markers to assist in identifying potentially lethal cSCC. The SHNCI continues to run a prospective sentinel node study for high-risk cutaneous SCC and the interim results of this study (the largest of its kind) were published in 2015. Accrual now approaches 100 patient specimens and these specimens have been used for several molecular studies looking for predictors of metastases in high risk cutaneous SCC.

Aggressive salivary gland cancers (SGC)

A review was undertaken into the pathology and prognostic follow-up of aggressive salivary gland cancers treated at the SHNCI. This included analysis of two potential prognostic biomarkers, Mammary analogue salivary cancer (MASC) and MAML2 translocation in mucoepidermoid cancer and salivary duct cancer.

Oral squamous cell cancer (OSCC)

Several large multi-institutional studies were published by the ICOR group (International Consortium for Outcome Research) incorporating data from the SHCNI. The effect of p16 expression and human papilloma virus (HPV) status was explored in a collaborative study with A/Prof Iyer (National Cancer Centre Singapore) examining differences in p16 expression between institutions including the effect of ethnic differences.

Patient education – the Comprehensive Head and Neck Education and Support (CHANCES) program

The CHANCES program is a web based resource to support patients with head and neck cancer and their carers. A body of research underpins the program to provide an evidence based approach to head and neck education resources. The first step is determining what are the deficiencies in head and neck cancer education and how they can be addressed. Two multicentre studies have been initiated to determine both the clinician perspective and the patient perspective on education resources in head and neck cancer.


Thyroid cancer

A/Prof Michael Elliot leads the thyroid translational research program in conjunction with Dr Elizabeth Chua (RPAH) and A/Prof Sue Mclennan (USyd). This group is examining differential miRNA expression profiling in thyroid cancer and is also focussing on investigating miRNA expression in the serum to identify an alternative marker of recurrent/persistent disease.

Top: A/Prof Jonathan Clark in surgery at Lifehouse. Above: A/Prof Sydney Ch’ng Right: A/Prof Carsten Palme


Integrative MedicineDr Judith Lacey MBBS FRACGO FAChPM (FRACP) (Director of Integrative Medicine)

Dr Toni Lindsay PhD (Clin & Health Psych) (Clinical Psychologist)

Mr Michael Marthick BSc (Ex Sci), Grad Dip Sc (Ex Rehab), MPH (Exercise Physiologist)

Dr Suzanne Grant BAppSc (TCM), MPS, PhD (Chinese Medicine) (Accupuncturist)

Publications 5


Grants 3

Students 0


Research HighlightsThe Lifehouse integrative medicine group has developed a pilot study to assess the feasibility of a multimodal intervention as well as identifying supportive care needs of the growing group of cancer patients living with metastatic melanoma and receiving immunotherapy. These patients are now living for years with their metastatic melanoma, but have significant quality-of-life problems related to the autoimmune related side effects of immunotherapy, including stiffness. The study will provide an opportunity to develop a supportive care program tailored to the needs of those patients living with immunotherapy-controlled cancer and gain a greater understanding of the interventions most suited to maintain and improve their well-being. We believe it is of potential benefit to support and improve the wellbeing of the advanced melanoma patients receiving

pembrolizumab. This study has been funded by MSD and will enroll 60 patients over the next two years.

A review of current services, conducted through meetings with health professionals at Sydney Catalyst member organisations, has revealed that a significant gap exists across NSW in the delivery of coordinated prehabilitation (pre-surgery) or rehabilitation (post-surgery) for lung cancer patients. A rehabilitation program post-surgery is not consistently applied to patients undergoing surgery at major tertiary centres or for those returning to rural locations. While all sites have resources and provide quality services, there is currently no consistent, ongoing follow-up of patients post-surgery to monitor physical rehabilitation. There is no formalised networking across sites currently for post-

surgical care or professional development amongst the healthcare professionals providing services. Existing pulmonary rehabilitation programs tend to focus on chronic obstructive airways disease and other chronic conditions, rather than lung cancer and surgical follow up.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a minimally invasive multidisciplinary therapeutic intervention that has demonstrated positive outcomes for lung cancer patients in various settings. Mounting evidence supports the importance of preparing newly diagnosed cancer patients and optimising their health before starting intense treatments such as surgery or chemotherapy. There are few if any examples of harnessing eHealth technologies in a consistent way to improve preparation for surgery or rehabilitation post surgery. This study extends existing Sydney Catalyst research projects in lung cancer care and aims to evaluate the feasibility of an integrated model of care for prehabilitation/ rehabilitation of patients undergoing surgery for non-small-cell lung cancer, commencing with a Phase I study of the physical exercise component, utilising blended delivery including telehealth and face-to-face methods.


Lifehouse AffiliatesNHMRC Clinical Trials CentreThe NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre (CTC) at the University of Sydney conducts large- scale, multi-centre, investigator-initiated, academic clinical trials with national and international trial groups, and contributes expertise to trials run by others. The CTC’s oncology group based in Lifehouse works in partnership with Australia’s leading cancer collaborative investigator groups. The CTC is the coordinating centre for the:

zz Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group (AGITG)

zz Australasian Lung Cancer Trials Group (ALTG)

zz Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group (ANZUP)

zz Australia New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG)

zz Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO)

The CTC is also the statistical centre for the Australia and New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group (ANZBCTG).

The NHMRC CTC and Lifehouse work together on a number of studies, including the NITRO/BR.26 studies in lung cancer, ENZARAD/ENZAMET in prostate cancer, CABARET in brain cancer and IMPACT in pancreatic cancer.

CEMPed & PoCoGThe Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-Making (CeMPED) was launched in 2008 as a University of Sydney Research Centre, combining two previous research groups which had been functioning informally for many years. It is cross-disciplinary and multi- faculty, with members from the School of Psychology, School of Public Health and the School of Medical Sciences. All staff and students, except those associated with the School of Public Health, are housed on the sixth floor of Lifehouse, and focus exclusively on research in the oncology population, across the trajectory of the disease from living with high risk, to diagnosis and survivorship, to end-of-life care. CeMPED’s research interests focus on behaviours and interventions to:

zz promote good health and prevent disease

zz enhance psychosocial adjustment of patients and carers

zz increase use of evidence in health care decision making

zz support patients to be more involved in their own health care

zz support in particular vulnerable patients, such as immigrants, those with low health literacy, those living in rural and remote areas, and those at the end of life.

CeMPED currently has over 50 staff and students. Since 2010, staff have been awarded more than $10,000,000 in grants and published over 300 papers in peer reviewed journals.

The Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG) was launched in 2005, and is one of the 14 national cancer clinical trial groups under the umbrella of COSA, and funded by Cancer Australia. It has over 1500 members across Australia. PoCoG’s mission is to support internationally significant, collaborative, Psycho-Oncology research and to provide resources and mentorship to Psycho-Oncology researchers. PoCoG collaborates with the other trial groups, and is currently supporting 44 studies.

Current in-house research within CeMPED and PoCoG includes:

zz ConquerFear: a Cancer Australia funded multi-centre Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) of a psychologist-delivered intervention to assist survivors to better manage fear of cancer recurrence.

zz ADAPT: a CINSW translational program grant evaluating implementation strategies for a clinical pathway to manage anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

zz RAVES: a PCF-funded RCT of a decision aid to support men with high risk prostate cancer to decide whether to join the TROG RAVES trial or early versus late radiotherapy.

zz Advanced care planning: an NHMRC-funded RCT of advanced care planning delivered by trained nurses for patients with less than 1 year to live.

zz E-TC: an ANZUP-funded study involving further development and piloting of an internet based therapy for testicular cancer survivors to reduce anxiety and depression.

zz Challenge: an NHMRC-funded RCT of exercise for colorectal cancer survivors.


zz Overdiagnosis: an NHMRC-funded trial of different ways to inform women about overdiagnosis following mammographic screening.

zz Re-Kindle: an ARC-funded RCT of an online intervention for cancer survivors in managing sexual dysfunction after cancer.

zz Cognitive rehabilitation: a CCNSW-funded study of cognitive re-training in breast cancer survivors.

zz TRIO: an ARC-funded pilot of online training for health professionals in ethical involvement of family members in consultations and decision-making.

zz DCIS decision aid: a Medibank-funded project developing evidence to support a decision aid for women with DCIS.

The Cancer Nursing Research Unit (CNRU)CNRU is helping to meet the needs of people in NSW by expanding the contribution of cancer nurses to quality cancer services, including the extended role of nurses in both clinical and community sectors. The CNRU conducts its research activities under four broad themes of: (1) supportive care, (2) psychosocial and quality of life, (3) models of health care delivery and (4) improving research capacity and skills for cancer and palliative care nurses. Some of our current research and activities have included:

zz evaluating a shared care pathway intervention to reduce chemotherapy outpatients unplanned presentations to hospital (partnered with Lifehouse and Concord Repatriation General Hospital)

zz an Education Support Program for carers of patients receiving Bone Marrow Transplant

zz evaluating haematology patients’ and health professionals’ attitudes to complementary and alternative medicine

zz assessing adolescent and young adult cancer patients’ transition to palliative care and effect on health care professionals

zz interventions to improve supportive care.

The CNRU is a member group of Sydney Catalyst, and supports clinical nurses in their research projects as well as hosting a vibrant group of postgraduate degree students.

Sydney CatalystSydney Catalyst is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional endeavour that brings together more than 500 researcher, clinician and student members from nearly 30 individual member groups and institutions within NSW.

Our overall aim is to improve health outcomes for people affected by cancer through a translational research program facilitating the rapid translation of scientific discoveries into clinical policy and practice. The group has expertise in translational research across the full continuum from basic biosciences to molecular biomarker discovery, descriptive research, clinical trials, psychosocial research and implementation research of best evidence-based care into practice.

During the last five years Sydney Catalyst has facilitated and been involved in a major change in the landscape of cancer research in NSW, with a focus on increasing communication, collaboration and knowledge translation across the translational spectrum. A key component of our program has been to facilitate meaningful engagement between clinicians and researchers.

Our relationship with Chris O’Brien Lifehouse is a particularly important one in this regard, as we work closely with Lifehouse clinicians across a range of specific research and implementation projects as well as more generally to encourage and facilitate the alignment of research with rapid translation to the clinic to improve outcomes. Some examples of specific projects across Sydney Catalyst and Lifehouse include:

Universal consent for biobanking (funded by the Cancer Institute NSW Biobanking Stakeholders Network).This project, led by James Kench and Lisa Horvath, aimed to develop and implement pre-operative universal consent for biobanking across a number of tumour streams at Lifehouse/RPAH, with Head and Neck cancer as an initial exemplar.


Lung cancer cohort: a platform to study serial biospecimens and matched clinical data (LC-PLAT, a top-down Sydney Catalyst flagship project). This project, led by Steven Kao, aims to set up infrastructure to recruit lung cancer patients for collection of serial biospecimens (tissue and blood) in clinical practice to be used for a range of translational studies, including rapid molecular profiling by next generation sequencing, immunological studies, dynamic animal models from patient-derived xenografts, studies of potential prognostic and predictive biomarkers of response and resistance etc.

Lung cancer demonstration project (funded by Cancer Australia). This project, led by David Barnes, perfectly illustrates how clinicians and researchers can work together to locally implement best-practice approaches to treatment and care. The project has included a number of discrete deliverables, including the development of a new MDT reporting template that has been introduced into standard clinical practice for the lung MDT at Lifehouse/RPAH, the integration of the HealthPathways lung cancer pathway into local practice, and a discreet research project to assess care coordination in lung cancer. Another important outcome of this project has been improved communication and collaboration between clinicians and researchers, with Lifehouse and SLHD staff working closely with implementation researchers from Sydney Catalyst to develop, implement and evaluate a range of local interventions to improve care. The project has been so successful at Lifehouse that MDTs at other clinical sites are now exploring how they might adapt the interventions for local implementation.

It is important to note that in addition to the range of specific research projects across Sydney Catalyst and Lifehouse, considerable progress has been made to improve communication and collaboration across the two groups. Representatives from Lifehouse are significantly involved in the leadership and scientific governance groups of Sydney Catalyst, while the co-location of the Sydney Catalyst central office within Lifehouse affords a unique opportunity for the two groups to work closely together.

The RPA Institute of Academic SurgeryThe RPA Institute of Academic Surgery (IAS), which was established within the Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) in 2014, has the primary aim of reinvigorating the discipline of academic surgery on the broader RPA and University of Sydney campus. Through the implementation of new and innovative models that support the development of academic careers and the uptake of surgical research and education, the Institute has been working in close partnership with Lifehouse across both surgical and medical specialties.

This has included the introduction of ‘Research Think Tanks’ within each surgical department on the campus with a focus on discussing new research ideas across specialties and disciplines. These were particularly successful within Colorectal, Breast and Plastics & Reconstructive Surgery, resulting in the development of a number of new research projects. The IAS has also identified key Research and Education Leads within each surgical specialty including Breast Surgery, Gynae-Oncology and Head & Neck Surgery at Lifehouse, and meets with these surgical staff regularly to discuss current research and education projects, academic planning, any challenges being encountered and upcoming opportunities for collaborations.

Surgical staff at Lifehouse are involved in the provision of teaching and mentoring within the IAS pilot ‘Surgical Science Mentorship Program’ aimed at providing guidance and support to junior medical staff preparing to sit the primary surgical examination. In addition, the IAS is working together with Lifehouse surgical staff to supervise a number of research projects being undertaken by MD students at the University of Sydney.


Medical Oncology Publications

1. Arzuman L, Beale P, Proschogo N, Yu JQ, Huq F. Combination of Genistein and Cisplatin with Two Designed Monofunctional Platinum Agents in Human Ovarian Tumour Models. Anticancer Res. 2015;35:6027-39.*

2. Arzuman L, Beale P, Yu JQ, Huq F. Monofunctional Platinum-containing Pyridine-based Ligand Acts Synergistically in Combination with the Phyto-chemicals Curcumin and Quercetin in Human Ovarian Tumour Models. Anticancer Res. 2015;35:2783-94.

3. Ashley D, Thomas D, Goer L, Carter R, Zalcberg JR, Otmar R, Savulescu J. Accepting risk in the acceleration of drug development for rare cancers. Lancet Oncol. 2015 ;16: e190-194.

4. Ballinger ML, Mitchell G and Thomas DM. Surveillance recommendations for patients with germline TP53 mutations. Curr Opin Oncol. 2015;27:332-337.

5. Blinman P, Hughes B, Crombie C, Christmas T, Hudson M, Veillard AS, Muljadi N, Millward M, Wright G, Flynn P, Windsor M, Stockler M, McLachlan SA; Australasian Lung Cancer Trials Group (ALTG). 2015. Patients’ and doctors’ preferences for adjuvant chemotherapy in resected non-small-cell lung cancer: What makes it worthwhile? Eur J Cancer. 2015;51:1529-37.

6. Brunner M, Gore SM, Read DL, Alexander A, Mehta A, Elliott M, Milross C, Boyer M, Clark JR. Head and neck multidisciplinary team meetings: effect on patient management. Head Neck. 2015;37: 1046- 50. *

7. Butow P, Price M, Shaw J, Clayton J, Grimison P, Rankin N, Kirsten L. Clinical pathway for the screening, assessment and management of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients: Australian guidelines. Psycho-oncology. 2015; 24: 987-1001.

8. Butow P, Kelly S, Thewes B, Hruby G, Sharpe L, Beith J. Attentional bias and meta cognitions in cancer survivors with high fear of cancer recurrence. Psycho-oncology. 2015;24:416-423.

9. Chandrasegaram MD, Goldstein D, Simes J, Gebski V, Kench JG, Gill AJ, Samra JS, Merrett ND, Richardson AJ, Barbour AP. Meta-analysis of radical resection rates and margin assessment in pancreatic cancer. Br J Surg. 2015 Nov;102:1459-72.

10. Cheng R, Cooper A, Kench J, Watson G, Bye W, McNeil C, Shackel N. Ipilimumab-induced toxicities and the gastroenterologist. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015;30:657-66.

11. Chim L, Salkeld G, Stockler MR, Mileshkin L. Weighing up the benefits and harms of a new anti-cancer drug: a survey of Australian oncologists. Intern Med J. 2015;45:834-42.

12. Cooper WA, Tran T, Vilian RE, Mafore J, Selinger CI, Kohonen-Corish M, Yip PY, Yu B, O’Toole SA, McCaughan BC, Yearley JH, Horvath LG, Kao S, Boyer M, Scolyer RA. PDL1 expression is a favourable prognostic factor in early stage non-small-cell lung carcinoma. Lung Cancer. 2015;89:181-88

13. Davidson A, Veillard AS, Tognela A, Chan MM, Hughes BG, Boyer M, Briscoe K, Begbie S, Abdi E, Crombie C, Long J, Boyce A, Lewis CR, Varma S, Broad A, Muljadi N, Chinchen S, Espinoza D, Coskinas X, Pavlakis N, Millward M, Stockler MR; Australasian Lung cancer Trials Group (ALTG). A phase III randomized trial of adding topical nitro- glycerin to first-line chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: the Australasian lung cancer trials group NITRO trial. Ann Oncol. 2015;26:2280-6.

14. Davis ID, Long A, Yip S, Espinoza D, Thompson JF, Kichenadasse G, Harrison M, Lowenthal RM, Pavlakis N, Azad A, Kannourakis G, Steer C, Goldstein D, Shapiro J, Harvie R, Jovanovic L, Hudson AL, Nelson CC, Stockler MR, Martin A. EVERSUN: a phase 2 trial of alternating sunitinib and evero-limus as first-line therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma. Ann Oncol. 2015;26:1118-23.

15. Dong ST, Butow PN, Agar M, Lovell MR, Boyle F, Stockler M, Forster BC, Tong A. Clinicians perspectives on managing symptom clusters in advanced cancer: a semi-structured interview study. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2015 Dec 28 (Epub).

16. Dong ST, Butow PN, Tong A, Agar M, Boyle F, Forster BC, Stockler M, Lovell MR. Patients’ experiences and perspectives of multiple concurrent symptoms in advanced cancer: a semi-structured interview study. Support Care Cancer. 2015 Sep 4 (Epub)

17. Elmadahm AA, Gill PG, Bochner M, Gebski VJ, Zannino D, Wetzig N, Campbell I, Stockler M, Ung O, Simes J, Uren R. Identification of the sentinel lymph node in the SNAC-1 trial. ANZ J Surg. 2015;85:58–63.

18. Field KM, Simes J, Nowak AK, Cher L, Wheeler H, Hovey EJ, Brown CS, Barnes EH, Sawkins K, Livingstone A, Freilich R, Phal PM, Fitt G, Rosenthal MA. Randomized phase 2 study of carboplatin and bevacizumab in recurrent glioblastoma. Neuro Oncol. 2015;17:1504-13.

19. Gee HE, Buffa FM, Harris AL, Toohey JM, Carroll SL, Cooper CL, Beith JM, McNeil C, Carmalt H, Mak C, Warrier S, Holliday A, Selinger C, Beckers R, Kennedy C, Graham P, Swarbrick A, Millar EK, O’Toole SA, Molloy T. MicroRNA-related DNA repair/cell-cycle genes independently associated with relapse following radiotherapy for early breast cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2015;93:1104-1114. *

20. Ghersi D, Willson ML, Chan MMK, Simes J, Donoghue E, Wilcken N. Taxane-containing regimens for metastatic breast cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015;(6): CD003366.

21. Grimison P. Rare urogenital tumours - testicular cancer and beyond. Cancer Forum. 2015;39:16-19.

22. Hayne D, Stockler M, McCombie SP, Chalasani V, Long A, Martin A, Sengupta S, Davis ID. BCG+MMC trial: adding mitomycin C to BCG as adjuvant intravesical therapy for high-risk, non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a randomised phase III trial (ANZUP 1301). BMC Cancer. 2015;15:432.

23. Honeyball F, Murali-Ganesh R, Hruby G, Grimison P. Compliance of males with stage 1 testicular germ cell tumours on an active surveillance protocol. Internal Medicine Journal. 2015;45:1081-1084.


24. Johnson S, Butow PN, Kerridge I, Tattersall MHN. Advance care planning for cancer patients: a systematic review of perceptions and experiences of patients, families and health care providers. Psycho-Oncology, 2015 Sept 20 (Epub).

25. Juraskova I, Butow P, Fisher A, Bonner C, Anderson C, Bu S, Scarlet J, Stockler MR, Wetzig N, Ung O, Campbell I. Development and piloting of a decision aid for women considering participation in the sentinel node biopsy versus axillary clearance 2 breast cancer trial. Clin Trials. 2015;12:409-17.

26. Kao SC, Fulham M, Wong K, Cooper W, Brahmbhatt H, MacDiarmid J, Pattison S, Sagong JO, Huynh Y, Leslie F, Pavlakis N, Clarke S, Boyer M, Reid G, van Zandwijk N. A significant metabolic and radiological response after a novel targeted microRNA-based treatment approach in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:1467-69.

27. Kao SC, van Zandwijk N, Clarke S, Vardy J, Lumba S, Tognela A, Ng W. Estimation of an optimal chemotherapy utilisation rate for malignant pleural mesothelioma: an evidence-based benchmark for cancer care. Asia Pac J Clin Oncol. 2015;11:85-92.

28. Kirschner MB, Pulford E, Hoda MA, Rozsas A, Griggs K, Cheng YY, Edelman JJ, Kao SC, Hyland R, Dong Y, Laszlo V, Klikovits T, Vallely MP, Grusch M, Hegedus B, Dome B, Klepetko W, van Zandwijk N, Klebe S, Reid G. Fibulin-3 levels in malignant pleural mesothelioma are associated with prognosis but not diagnosis. Br J Cancer. 2015 Aug 11 (Epub)

29. Kondrashova O, Love CJ, Lunke S, Hsu AL; Australian Ovarian Cancer Study (AOCS) Group, Waring PM, Taylor GR. High-throughput amplicon-based copy number detection of 11 genes in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded ovarian tumour samples by MLPA-Seq. PLoS One. 2015;10:e0143006.

30. Kumar SS and McNeil CM. Pembrolizumab for the treatment of melanoma. Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2015;8:515-27.

31. Lakhanpal R, Yoong Y, Joshi S, Yip D, Mileshkin L, Marx GM, Dunlop T, Hovey EJ, Della Fiorentina SE, Venkateswaran L, Tattersall MHN, Liew S, Field K, Singhal N, Steer CB. Geriatric assessment of older patients with cancer in Australia – a multicentre audit. J.Geriatric Oncol. 2015;6:185-193.

32. Lam J, Lord SJ, Hunter KE, Simes RJ, Vu T, Askie LM. Australian clinical trial activity and burden of disease: an analysis of registered trials in National Health Priority Areas. Med J Aust. 2015;203:97-101.

33. Lee BY, Timpson P, Horvath LG, Daly RJ. FAK signaling human cancer as a target for therapeutics. Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2015;146:132-49.

34. Leong T, Smithers BM, Michael M, Gebski V, Boussioutas A, Miller D, Simes J, Zalcberg J, Haustermans K, Lordick F, Schuhmacher C, Swallow C, Darling G, Wong R. TOPGEAR: a randomised phase III trial of perioperative ECF chemotherapy versus preoperative chemoradiation plus perioperative ECF chemotherapy for resectable gastric cancer (an international, inter-group trial of the AGITG/TROG/EORTC/NCIC CTG). BMC Cancer. 2015;15:532.

35. Loh SF, Cooper C, Selinger CI, Barnes EH, Chan C, Carmalt H, West R, Gluch L, Beith JM, Caldon CE, O’Toole S. Cell cycle marker expression in benign and malignant intraductal papillary lesions of the breast. Journal of Clinical Pathology. 2015;68:187-91

36. Long GV, Atkinson V, Ascierto PA, Brady B, Dutriaux C, Maio M, Mortier L, Hassel JC, Rutkowski P, McNeil C, Kalinka-Warzocha E, Savage KJ, Hernberg M, Lebbé C, Charles J, Mihalcioiu C, Chiarion-Sileni V, Mauch C, Schmidt H, Schadendorf D, Gogas H, Horak C, Sharkey B, Waxman IM, Robert C. Nivolumab improved survival vs dacarbazine in patients with untreated advanced malignancy. J Transl Med. 2015;13:2063.

37. Lyerly HK, Fawzy MR, Aziz Z, Nair R, Pramesh CS, Parmar V, Parikh PM, Jamal R, Irumnaz A, Ren J, Stockler MR, Abernethy AP. Regional variation in identified cancer care needs of early-career oncologists in China, India and Pakistan. Oncologist. 2015;20:532-38.

38. Mahon KL, Lin HM, Castillo L, Lee BY, Lee-Ng M, Chatfield MD, Chiam K, Breit SN, Brown DA, Molloy MP, Marx GM, Pavlakis N, Boyer MJ, Stockler MR, Wykes RJ, Daly RD, Henshall SM, Horvath LG. Cytokine profiling of docetaxel-resistant castrate-resistant prostate cancer. British Journal of Cancer. 2015;112:1340-48.

39. Martin JH, Phillips E, Thomas D, Somogyi AA. Adding the ‘medicines’ back into personalized medicine to improve cancer treatment outcomes. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2015;80:929-931.

40. McBride KA, Hallowell N, Tattersall MHN, Kirk J, Ballinger ML, Thomas DM, Mitchell G, Young MA. Timing and context: important considerations in the return of genetic results to research participants. J Community Genet. 2015 May 26 (Epub)

41. Mirabello L, Koster R, Morarity BS, Thomas DM et al. A genome-wide scan identifies variants in NFIB associated with metastasis in patients with osteosarcoma. Cancer Discov. 2015;5:920-931.

42. Mizrahi D, Broderick C, Friedlander M, Ryan M, Harrison M, Pumpa K, Naumann F. An exercise intervention during chemotherapy for women with recurrent ovarian cancer: a feasibility study. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2015 ;25:985-92.

43. Moth EB, Parry J, Stockler MR, Beale P, Blinman P, Della-Fiorentina S, Kiely BE. Doctor-to-doctor communication of prognosis in metastatic cancer: a review of letters from medical oncologists to referring doctors. Intern Med J. 2015;45:909-15.

44. Nagrial AM, Chin VT, Sjoquist KM, Pajic M, Horvath LG, Biankin AV, Yip D. Second-line treatment in inoperable pancreatic adenocarcinoma: a systemic review and synthesis of all clinical trials. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology. 2015;96:483-97.

45. Neuhaus S, Thomas DM, Desai J, Vuletich C, von Dincklage J, Olver I. Wiki-based clinical practice guidelines for the management of adult onset sarcoma - a new paradigm in sarcoma evidence. Sarcoma. 2015; 2015: 614179.

46. O’Carrigan B, Grimison P. Editorial Comment from Dr O’Carrigan and Dr Grimison to “Identification of a subgroup with worse prognosis among patients with poor-risk testicular germ cell tumor” (Editorial). International Journal of Urology. 2015;22:928-29.


47. O’Carrigan B, Grimison P. Current chemotherapeutic approaches for recurrent or refractory germ cell tumors. Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations. 2015;33:343-54.

48. Olson TA, Murray MJ, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Nicholson JC, Billmire DF, Krailo MD, Dang HM, Amatruda JF, Thornton CM, Arul GS, Stoneham SJ, Pashankar F, Stark D, Shaikh F, Gershenson DM, Covens A, Hurteau J, Stenning SP, Feldman DR, Grimison PS, Huddart RA, Sweeney CJ, Powles T, Lopes LF, Aguiar S, Chinnaswamy G, Khaleel S, Abouelnaga S, Hale J, Frazier L. Pediatric and adolescent extracranial germ cell tumors - the road to collaboration. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2015;33:3018-28.

49. Oza AM, Cook AD, Pfisterer J, Embleton A, Ledermann JA, Pujade-Lauraine E, Kristensen G, Carey MS, Beale P, Cervantes A, Park-Simon TW, Rustin G, Joly F, Mirza MR, Plante M, Quinn M, Poveda A, Jayson GC, Stark D, Swart AM, Farrelly L, Kaplan R, Parmar MK, Perren TJ; ICON7 trial investigators. Standard chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab for women with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer (ICON7): overall survival results of a phase 3 randomised trial. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Aug;16:928-36.

50. Parisot JP, Thorne H, Fellowes A, Doig K, Lucas M, McNeil JJ, Dobie B, Dobrovic A, John T, James PA, Lipton L, Ashley D, Hayes T, McMurrick P, Richardson G, Lorgelly P, Fox SB, Thomas DM. “Cancer 2015”: a prospective, population-based cancer cohort-phase 1: feasibility of genomics-guided precision medicine in the clinic. J Pers Med. 2015;5:354-69.

51. Patch AM, Christie EL, Etemadmoghadam D, Garsed DW, George J, Fereday S, Nones K, Cowin P, Alsop K, Bailey PJ, Kassahn KS, Newell F, Quinn MC, Kazakoff S, Quek K, Wilhelm-Benartzi C, Curry E, Leong HS; Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group, Hamilton A, Mileshkin L, Au-Yeung G, Kennedy C, Hung J, Chiew YE, Harnett P, Friedlander M, Quinn M, Pyman J, Cordner S, O’Brien P, Leditschke J, Young G, Strachan K, Waring P, Azar W, Mitchell C, Traficante N, Hendley J, Thorne H, Shackleton M, Miller DK, Arnau GM, Tothill RW, Holloway TP, Semple T, Harliwong I, Nourse C, Nourbakhsh E, Manning S, Idrisoglu S, Bruxner TJ, Christ AN, Poudel B, Holmes O, Anderson M, Leonard C, Lonie A, Hall N, Wood S, Taylor DF, Xu Q, Fink JL, Waddell N, Drapkin R, Stronach E, Gabra H, Brown R, Jewell A, Nagaraj SH, Markham E, Wilson PJ, Ellul J, McNally O, Doyle MA, Vedururu R, Stewart C, Lengyel E, Pearson JV, Waddell N, deFazio A, Grimmond SM, Bowtell DD. Whole-genome characterization of chemoresistant ovarian cancer. Nature. 2015 Nov 19;527:398. (Beale P as part of Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group).

52. Price TJ, Bruhn MA, Lee CK, Hardingham JE, Townsend AR, Mann KP, Simes J, Weickhard A, Wrin JW, Wilson K, Gebski V, Van Hazel G, Robinson B, Cunningham D, Tebbutt NC. Correlation of extended RAS and PIK3CA gene mutation status with outcomes from the phase III AGITG MAX STUDY involving capecitabine alone or in combination with bevacizumab plus or minus mitomycin C in advanced colorectal cancer. Br J Cancer. 2015;112:963-70.

53. Rankin N, Butow P, Thein T, Robinson T, Shaw J, Price M, Clover K, Shaw T, Grimison P. Everybody wants it done but nobody wants to do it: an exploration of the barrier and enablers of critical components towards creating a clinical pathway for anxiety and depression in cancer. BMC Health Services Research. 2015;15:1-8.

54. Robert C, Schachter J, Long GV, Arance A, Grob JJ, Mortier L, Daud A, Carlino MS, McNeil C, Lotem M, Larkin J, Lorigan P, Neyns B, Blank CU, Hamid O, Mateus C, Shapira-Frommer R, Kosh M, Zhou H, Ibrahim N, Ebbinghaus S, Ribas A; KEYNOTE-006 investigators. Pembrolizumab versus Ipilimumab in advanced melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2015 Jun 25;372:2521-32.

55. Ryan CJ, Smith MR, Fizazi K, Saad F, Mulders PF, Sternberg CN, Miller K, Logothetis CJ, Shore ND, Small EJ, Carles J, Flaig TW, Taplin ME, Higano CS, de Souza P, de Bono JS, Griffin TW, De Porre P, Yu MK, Park YC, Li J, Kheoh T, Naini V, Molina A, Rathkopf DE; COU-AA-302 Investigators. Abiraterone acetate plus prednisone versus placebo plus prednisone in chemotherapy-naive men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (COU-AA-302): final overall survival analysis of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16:152-60. (Horvath L as part of COU-AA-302 consortium)

56. Rynkiewicz NK, Fedele CG, Chaim K, Gupta R, Kench JG, McLean CA, Horvath LG, Mitchell CA. INPP4B a negative regulator of PI3K/Akt signalling is expressed in prostate transit amplifying cells, and its loss of expression in prostate cancer predicts for recurrence and poor long term survival. The Prostate. 2015;75: 92-102.

57. Sampson JN, Wheeler WA, Yeager M Thomas D et al. Analysis of heritability and shared heritability based on genome-wide association studies for thirteen cancer types. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2015;107:djv279.

58. Schofield PE, Stockler MR, Zannino D, Tebbutt NC, Price TJ, Simes RJ, Wong N, Pavlakis N, Ransom D, Moylan E, Underhill C, Wyld D, Burns I, Ward R, Wilcken N, Jefford M. Hope, optimism and survival in a randomised trial of chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer. Support Care Cancer. 2015 Jun 21 (Epub).

59. Selinger C, Cooper W, Lum T, McNeil C, Morey A, Waring P, Amanuel B, Millward M, Peverall J, Van Vliet C, Christie M, Tran Y, Diakos C, Pavlakis N, Gill AJ, O’Toole S. Equivocal ALK fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) cases may benefit from ancillary ALK FISH probe testing. Histopathology. 2015 Nov;67:654-63.

60. Sengupta S, Grimison P, Hayne D, Williams S, Chambers S, de Souza P, Stockler M, McJannett M, Toner G, Davis ID. The Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate (ANZUP) Cancer Trials Group - a new co-operative cancer trials group in genitourinary oncology. BJU Int . 2015;115:856-58.

61. Smith AB, Butow P, Olver I, Luckett T, Grimison P, Toner GC, Stockler MR, Hovey E, Stubbs J, Turner S, Hruby G, Gurney H, Alam M, Cox K, King MT. The prevalence, severity, and correlates of psychological distress and impaired health-related quality of life following treatment for testicular cancer: a survivorship study. J Cancer Surviv 2015 Jul 16 (Epub)*

62. Stevenson AR, Solomon MJ, Lumley JW, Hewett P, Clouston AD, Gebski VJ, Davies L, Wilson K, Hague W, Simes J. Effect of laparoscopic-assisted resection vs open resection on pathological outcomes in rectal cancer: the ALaCaRT randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2015 Oct 6;314:1356–1363.

63. Stockler M. ACP Journal Club: in palliative care, discontinuation of statins did not differ from continuation for mortality. Ann Intern Med. 2015 Aug 18;163:JC7.

64. Sundaresan P, King MT, Stockler MR, Costa DS, Milross CG. Barriers to radiotherapy utilisation in New South Wales Australia: health professionals’ perceptions of impacting factors. J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2015;59:535-41. *


65. Sundaresan P, Stockler MR, Milross CG. What is access to radiation therapy? A conceptual framework and review of influencing factors. Aust Health Rev. 2015;40:11-18. *

66. Szulkin R, Whitington T, Eklund M, Aly M, Eeles RA, Easton D, Kote-Jarai ZS, Amin Al Olama A, Benlloch S, Muir K, Giles GG, Southey MC, Fitzgerald LM, Henderson BE, Schumacher F, Haiman CA, Schleutker J, Wahlfors T, Tammela TL, Nordestgaard BG, Key TJ, Travis RC, Neal DE, Donovan JL, Hamdy FC, Pharoah P, Pashayan N, Khaw KT, Stanford JL, Thibodeau SN, McDonnell SK, Schaid DJ, Maier C, Vogel W, Luedeke M, Herkommer K, Kibel AS, Cybulski C, Lubiński J, Kluźniak W, Cannon-Albright L, Brenner H, Butterbach K, Stegmaier C, Park JY, Sellers T, Lim HY, Slavov C, Kaneva R, Mitev V, Batra J, Clements JA; Australian Prostate Cancer BioResource, Spurdle A, Teixeira MR, Paulo P, Maia S, Pandha H, Michael A, Kierzek A; Practical Consortium, Gronberg H, Wiklund F. Prediction of individual genetic risk to prostate cancer using a polygenic score. The Prostate. 2015;75:1467-74. (Horvath L as part of Australian Prostate Cancer BioResource)

67. Tattersall MHN and Thomas DM. Distinguishing activity from progress. Lancet Oncology. 2015;16:1586-88.

68. Thomas DM and Ballinger ML. Etiologic, environmental and inherited risk factors in sarcomas. J Surg Oncol Apr. 2015;111:490-95.

69. Thomas DM, Fox S, Lorgelly PK, Ashley D, Richardson G, Lipton L, Parisot JP, Lucas M, McNeil J, Wright M; Cancer 2015 Investigators. Cancer 2015: a longitudinal, whole-of-system study of genomic cancer medicine. Drug Discov Today. 2015;20:1429-32.

70. Thomas DM, James PA and Ballinger ML. Clinical implications of genomics for cancer risk genetics. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16:e303-08.

71. Tognela A, Beith J, Kiely B, Bastick P, Lynch J, Descallar J, Mok K. Small HER2 positive breast cancer: should size affect adjuvant treatment? Clinical Breast Cancer. 2015 ;4:277-84.

72. van Geldermalsen M, Wang Q, Nagarajah R, Marshall AD, Thoeng A, Gao D, Ritchie W, Feng Y, Bailey CG, Deng N, Harvey K, Beith JM, Selinger CI, O’Toole SA, Rasko JE, Holst J. ASCT2/SLC1A5 controls glutamine uptake and tumour growth in triple-negative basal-like breast cancer. Oncogene. 2015 Oct 12 (Epub) *

73. Vardy JL, Dhillon HM, Pond GR, Rourke SB, Bekele T, Renton C, Dodd A, Zhang H, Beale P, Clarke S, Tannock IF. Cognitive function in patients with colorectal cancer who do and do not receive chemotherapy: a prospective, longitudinal, controlled study. J Clin Oncol. 2015;33:4085-92.

74. Weickhardt AJ, Williams DS, Lee CK, Chionh F, Simes J, Murone C, Wilson K, Parry MM, Asadi K, Scott AM, Punt CJ, Nagtegaal ID, Price TJ, Mariadason JM, Tebbutt NC. Vascular endothelial growth factor D expression is a potential biomarker of bevacizumab benefit in colorectal cancer. Br J Cancer. 2015;113:37-45.

75. Wetzig N, Gill PG, Zannino D, Stockler MR, Gebski V, Ung O, Campbell I, Simes RJ. Sentinel lymph node based management or routine axillary clearance? Three-year outcomes of the RACS sentinel node biopsy versus axillary clearance (SNAC) 1 trial. Ann Surg Oncol. 2015;22:17–23.

76. Wightman F, Solomon A, Kumar SS, Urriola N, Gallagher K, Hiener B, Palmer S, McNeil C, Garsia R, Lewin SR. Effect of ipilimumab on the HIV reservoir in an HIV-infected individual with metastatic melanoma. AIDS. 2015;29:504-06.

77. Williams M, Kirschner MB, Cheng YY, Hanh J, Weiss J, Mugridge N, Wright CM, Linton A, Kao SC, Edelman JB, Vallely MP, McCaughan BC, Cooper W, Klebe S, Lin RCY, Brahmbhatt H, MacDiarmid J, van Zandwijk N, Reid G. miR-193-3p is a potential tumor suppressor in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Oncotarget. 2015;6:23480-23495.

78. Wong SQ, Fellowes A, Doig K, Ellul J, Bosma TJ, Irwin D, Vedururu R, Tan AY, Weiss J, Chan KS, Thomas DM, Dobrovic A, Parisot JP, Fox SB. Assessing the clinical value of targeted massively parallel sequencing in a longitudinal, prospective population-based study of cancer patients. Brit J Cancer. 2015;112:1411-20.

79. Yates A, Hruby G, Carroll S, Kneebone A, Tse R, Horvath L, Byrne C, Solomon M. Implementing intensity-modulated radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost for anal cancer: 3 year outcomes at two Sydney Institutions. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 2015;27:700-07.*

80. Yang JC, Wu YL, Schuler M, Sebastian M, Popat S, Yamamoto N, Zhou C, Hu CP, O’Byrne K, Feng J, Lu S, Huang Y, Geater SL, Lee KY, Tsai CM, Gorbunova V, Hirsch V, Bennouna J, Orlov S, Mok T, Boyer M, et al. Afatinib versus cisplatin-based chemotherapy for EGFR mutation-positive lung adenocarcinoma (LUX-Lung 3 and LUX-Lung 6): analysis of overall survival data from two randomized, phase 3 trials. Lancet Oncol 2015;16:141-51.

Note: *publication/grant shared with another department

Grants

1. Agar M, Vardy J, Koh E, Simes R, Nowak A, Wheeler H, Barnes E, Hovey E. The ACED trial: a phase II randomised placebo-controlled, double blind, multisite study of acetazolamide versus placebo for management of cerebral oedema in recurrent and/or progressive high-grade glioma requiring treatment with dexamethasone. Cancer Australia. (2016).

2. Anderson RL, Swarbrick A, Johnstone R, Chua B, Gill A, Khanna K, Lakhani S, Loi S, O’Toole S, Saunders C. AI: Beith J. Development of a national resource of primary and secondary metastatic breast cancers to test new drugs and identify the genetic changes that drive breast cancer growth and metastasis. National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) National Infrastructure Grant. $1,834,335 (2015-2019).

3. Barratt A, McCaffery K, Carter S, Glasziou P, Kerridge I, Semsarian C, Howard K, Doust J, Elshaug A, Moynihan R. AI: Tattersall MHN. Creating sustainable healthcare: ensuring new diagnostics avoid harms, improve outcomes, and direct resources wisely. APP1104136 (CRE in Health Services Research funding). $2,497,658 (2015-2019).

4. Butler L, Hoy A, Swinnen J, Wittert G, Scott A, Tilley W. (team leaders). Mahon K and Horvath L (team members). Exploiting alterations in lipid metabolism to improve diagnosis, treatment and molecular imaging of prostate cancer. Movember Revolutionary Team Award. $3 million (2015-2018).


5. Butler L, Horvath L, Tilley W, Stricker P. A pharmacodynamics study of the heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor, AUY922, in high-risk, localised prostate cancer. 1050880. Cancer Australia/Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. $590.000. (2013-2018, 2 year extension).

6. Butow P, Andrews G, Kelly B, Girgis A, Aranda S, Viney R, Clayton J, Hack T, Price MA, Beale P. AI: Grimison P. A sustainable and supported clinical pathway for managing anxiety and depression in cancer patients: developing and evaluating components and testing implementation strategies. Cancer Institute NSW Program Grant for Excellence in Translational Research. $3,643,992. (2015-2019).

7. Dinger M, Mattick J, Thomas DM. Sydney Genomics Collaborative Medical Genome Reference Bank. NSW Office for Health and Medical Research (OHMR). $10,000,000. (2014-2018).

8. Goldstein D, Friedlander M, Kiernan M, Krishnan A, Boyle F, Moalem-Taylor G, Haas M, Cohn R, Farrar M. AI: Grimison P .Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: assessment strategies, treatments and risk factors. Cancer Institute NSW Program Grant for Excellence in Translational Research. $3,040,000. (2015-2019).

9. Grimison P, Stockler M, Yip S, Horvath L, Toner G, Carr M. Personalised medicine for advanced testicular cancer: an evaluation of genetic variants to identify individuals not curable with best standard chemotherapy. Sydney Catalyst Pilot and Seed Funding Grant. $49,897 (2013-2015).

10. Grimison P, Toner G, Stockler M, Friedlander M, Thomson D, Gebski V, King M, Quinn D, Singhal N. Accelerating first-line chemotherapy to improve cure rates for advanced germ cell tumours: an Australian-led, international randomised trial. Cancer Australia and Cancer Council Australia Project Grant. $595,342.

11. Grimison P, Stockler M, Woo H, Patel M, Hayden A, Sandoe D. Cancer Institute NSW: Cooperative Clinical Trial Grant for ANZUP. Cancer Institute NSW/Cooperative Clinical Trial Grant, $300,000. (2013-2015).

12. Haydon A, Segelov E, Zalcberg J, Simes R, Walpole E, Yip D, Price T, Jefford M. Short Course Oncology Therapy (SCOT) - a study of adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer. Cancer Australia. (2015-2017).

13. Horvath LG, Exploiting lipid metabolism to predict response to treatment in advanced prostate cancer. Peer-reviewed Astellas research project grant. $200,000. (2016-2018).

14. Hovey E [AIs: Stockler M, Simes J, Grimison P, Boyer M, Hague W] Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro- Oncology (COGNO) infrastructure funding for support, development and conduct of clinical trials and translational research. Cancer Institute NSW. (2013-2015).

15. Hovey E, Simes R, Koh E, Agar M, McDonald K, Wheeler H. Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO) infrastructure funding for support, development and conduct of clinical trials and translational research. Cancer Australia (2013-2016).

16. Kao S, Boyer M, Cooper W, Beale P. Sydney Catalyst top-down funding 2015: Lung cancer cohort - a platform to study serial biospecimens and matched clinical data (LC-PLAT Study). $150,000. (2015-2016).

17. Khasraw M (Principal), Simes R. VEliparib, Radiotherapy and Temozolomide trial in Unmethylated (VERTU) MGMT glioblastoma. Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro- Oncology (COGNO). Cure Brain Cancer Foundation. (2014-2017).

18. Kiely B, Stockler M, Butow P, Tattersall M, Simes J. iTool: evaluation of a web-based tool for estimating and explaining prognosis in advanced cancer, Cancer Australia and Beyond Blue (2012-2015).

19. Lacey J, McNeil C, Dhillon H, Marthick M, Kao S (Investigators). MSD grant: Living well with immunotherapy for melanoma. $122,896. (2015-2016).

20. Lindeman G, Mann G, Desai J, Forbes J, Fox S, Liew D, Mcarthur G, Simes J, Sutherland R, Visvader J. Centre of Research Excellence for Translational Breast Cancer Research: from discovery to better health outcomes (2012-2017).

21. Mahon K. Movember Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia Clinician Scientist award. $450,000. (2016-2018).

22. McDonald K, Johns T, Erber W, Simes J, Rosenthal M, Brown C, Yip S, Field K. The biological basis of success or failure to the anti-VEGF agent, bevacizumab in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. Cancer Council NSW. (2013-2015).

23. Nowak A, Rosenthal M, Simes R, Ryan G, Drummond K Phase III trial of concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide chemotherapy in non- 1p/19q deleted anaplastic glioma. Cancer Australia. (2015-2018).

24. Pearson S, Charles K, Martin J, Diakos C, Kao S. Sydney Catalyst Pilot and Seed Funding 2015: Do changes to chemotherapy dose and increased toxicity explain poorer survival outcomes in advanced cancer patients with systemic inflammation? $50,000. (2015).

25. Price T, Harvey J, Tebbutt N, Simes J, Zalcberg J, Karapetis C. PETACC-6: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy and postoperative chemotherapy with capecitabine and oxaliplatin vs. capecitabine alone in locally advanced rectal cancer. Cancer Australia and Cancer Council NSW. (2013-2015).

26. Segelov E, Simes J, Tebbutt N, Zalcberg J, Sommeijer D, Chia J. ASCOLT trial: aspirin for Dukes C and high-risk Dukes B colorectal cancers. An international, multi-centre, double blind, randomised trial. Cancer Australia. (2014-2017).

27. Schofield P, Butow P, Hack T, Tattersall MHN, Hale S, Jefford M. A phase II randomised controlled trial of consultation audiorecording plus question prompt lists for people with cancer from Greek, Chinese or Arabic background. NHMRC project grant. (2013-2015).

28. Simes J, Boyer MJ, Solomon M, Sutherland R, Butow P, Vadas M. Cancer Institute NSW Translational Cancer Research Centre Grant, $6,500,000 (2011-2016).


29. Simes J, Keech A, Gebski A, Stockler M, Caterson I, Colagiuri S, Schofield D, Marschner I. Advancing the evidence base for care and policy in priority health areas. NHMRC program grant (2013-2017).

30. Simes J. NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship, (2012-2016).

31. Simes J. Grey matters - national brain cancer biobanking consortium project. Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro- Oncology (COGNO), Cancer Council NSW. (2014-2015).

32. Simes R. Phase II randomised non-comparative placebo-controlled double blind trial of acetazolamide plus dexamethasone versus dexamethasone alone for management of cerebral oedema in recurrent and/or progressive high grade glioma. ACED. Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO). Cure Brain Cancer Foundation (Harry Secombe Foundation). (2015-2016).

33. Simes R, CONTROL NETs: Capecitabine ON Temozolomide Radionuclide therapy Octreotate Lutetium-177 NeuroEndocrine Tumours Study, Unicorn Foundation. (2015-2017).

34. Stricker PD, Clark SJ, Hayes VM, Horvath LG, Kench JG, Mattick JS, Rasiah

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