Two Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI) Clinician-Scientists were announced as the deserving recipients of Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Clinical Trials Activity grants.
Professor Eliza Hawkes and Professor Hui Gan received significant funding to activate new and impactful clinical trials for patients with cancer.
Prof Hawkes, who has significant experience in leading clinical trials for lymphoma, received $3.49 million to commence the Radio-GLO study.
This study will investigate the use of radiotherapy to improve the efficacy of an existing immunotherapy, glofitamab, in relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive type of blood cancer.
Prof Hawkes says: “Radiotherapy is a very old and successful treatment for cancer, but it is now known to be a successful immune-stimulating therapy as well as directly killing cancer cells, so works well with the newer immunotherapies.
“It is also safe at the doses we now use, available at most cancer centres in Australia and of short duration.”
The team are planning to commence the study in mid-2026, activating it at 5 or 6 sites across Australia.
Prof Gan, a leading brain cancer clinician and researcher, received $798,137 to initiate the HEARTY pilot study.
This study explores a precision oncology approach to test radiation-sparing therapies in younger glioblastoma patients. Glioblastoma is a brain cancer where current treatments are limited and often hard to tolerate.
Prof Gan says: “Standard treatments for glioblastoma include post-operative radiation and chemotherapy, which are effective but not curative and often associated with significant side effects.”
“Deferring radiotherapy without adversely affecting survival would allow patients to maximise the quality of life, ability to care for their family and to work for as long as possible.”
The study is set to commence in mid-2026, and will be active at several sites around Australia.
The clinical teams are looking forward to launching these clinical trials and to begin recruiting Australian patients at different trial sites.
These two new trials are a significant addition to ONJCRI’s existing portfolio of clinical trials and are a demonstration of our commitment to improving outcomes for blood and brain cancer patients.
A huge congratulations to both Prof Hawkes and Prof Gan. We look forward to hearing about the results from these important studies.