At Sydney’s St George Hospital, CanCare supports research into the development of new treatments of cancer micro-metastases. Working under A/Prof. Yong Li, Yong’s team work to identify the mechanisms of prostate & ovarian cancer metastasis, and investigate drug (chemo) and radio-resistance in tumour ‘micro-environments’, and the associated stem cell changes.

The aim of this work is to develop targeted cancer therapies to control prostate and ovarian cancers.

New therapies mean patients are more likely to live longer and with less side effects, as the treatments have a greater impact on the cancer.

A number of promising areas of research are underway.

Some of the published research includes:

• Investigation of the ways prostate & ovarian cancer metastasise (spread),  and the drug and radio-resistance associated with tumour micro-environments, and cancer stem cell (CSC ) & epithelial cell changes

• Investigation of ‘novel biomarkers’ in human body fluids, looking for markers that may indicate cancer. This work offers hope of new methods of early diagnosis, so critical in many cancers where the symptoms only become known when it’s too late.