Australia’s $10 million push to tackle its ‘national cancer’

Diagnostics & MedTech News: The Australian government has announced a $10.3 million investment to address the country’s most prevalent cancer – skin cancer.

With Australia recording the highest rate of skin cancer globally, nearly two-thirds of Australians will be diagnosed with some form of the disease in their lifetime. Last year alone, more than 18,000 people were diagnosed with melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer.

The landmark State of the Nation in Melanoma report, released in February 2022, underscored the urgent need for a targeted melanoma screening program nationwide. This new funding aims to harness the expertise to fast-track the creation of a comprehensive national roadmap for targeted skin cancer screening.

“Skin cancer is our national cancer, but it’s also one of the most preventable,” said Federal Health Minister, Mark Butler MP. “There have been huge breakthroughs in treatment in recent years. The investment will accelerate the work underway by the Melanoma Institute in building this important national roadmap.”

The Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), led by Australians of the Year Professor Georgina Long AO and Professor Richard Scolyer AO, will spearhead this initiative. In collaboration with key stakeholders, MIA will explore risk-based and cost-effective approaches for national screening and enhance skin cancer data collection for the Australian Cancer Database in partnership with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Last month, the MIA and the Australian Centre of Excellence in Melanoma Imaging and Diagnosis (ACEMID) – a collaboration between the University of Sydney, University of Queensland and Monash University – held a melanoma data workshop in Sydney. The workshop focused on preparing for extensive data collection to support the evidence needed for a national melanoma-screening program.

ACEMID’s imaging machine captures 92 photos of a person’s skin to create a 3D avatar, allowing clinicians to monitor changes in moles or skin spots over time. With over 6,000 volunteers to date, ACEMID has generated terabytes of data, including clinical, 3D imaging, dermoscopy, pathology, proteomics, and genetic information.

“The allocation of $10.3 million to research and develop an evidence-based roadmap for a targeted skin cancer screening program over the coming years is exciting for the sector,” said Professor Long AO. “This is a major first step forward in the establishment of this key program, as we fight to beat Australia’s national cancer.”

The skin cancer sector has already met with the Health Minister to commence implementation of the funding, alongside discussions on additional opportunities to enhance skin cancer outcomes across the entire cancer continuum.

Concurrently, MIA is executing the government’s pledge to establish a national melanoma nurses program, part of Australia’s first Cancer Nursing and Navigation Program. This initiative provides patients with access to specialized melanoma nurses, who are already making an impact in Bendigo, Toowoomba, Perth, Wollongong, and Canberra.

Professor Scolyer AO expressed optimism about the government’s $15 million budget allocation for continued prevention messaging, stating, “Prevention is better than a cure, and the more investment in this area the better from our perspective.”

In related news, MIA’s A/Professor Alex Menzies delivered an oral presentation on behalf of the Umbrella O2C study investigators at the recent European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress. The study evaluated neoadjuvant immunotherapy pembrolizumab with or without investigational agents followed by adjuvant Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for Stage IIIB-D melanoma. He told delegates all arms had manageable safety and promising antitumor activity in these patients.

Results from the practice-changing NADINA clinical trial, the first phase 3 trial in oncology evaluating a neoadjuvant regimen consisting of only immunotherapy, were also relayed to delegates.

It compared neoadjuvant treatment with BMS’ combination immunotherapy Yervoy and Opdivo (ipilimumab and nivolumab) to the current standard adjuvant (post-surgery) approach with single agent immunotherapy (nivolumab). Results showed estimated 12 month event-free survival (EFS) rates of 83.7% in the neoadjuvant arm vs 57.2% in the adjuvant arm, and that neoadjuvant combination immunotherapy significantly decreased the risk of distant spread.

“This has the power to transform cancer treatment across the world,” said Professor Long who designed the study with Professor Christian Blank, and led the Australian arm of the trial.

“Combination neoadjuvant, or pre-surgery, immunotherapy should now be considered a new standard of treatment for higher-risk stage III melanoma, and should also now be clinically evaluated for use across the wider oncology field.”

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