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New cancer research centre aims to improve outcomes for all

09 December 2021
A new 免费色情视频-based research centre is bringing together people and organisations to improve cancer care and equity across Aotearoa 免费色情视频.
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L to R: George Laking, Megan Putterill, Peter Browett, Andrew Shelling
The University of 免费色情视频 is home to more than 300 cancer researchers in areas ranging from tumour biology to drug discovery to palliative care. Until recently, however, people tended to work in their disciplinary silos with familiar partners. Now a new research centre is bringing together people and organisations to improve cancer care across Aotearoa 免费色情视频. 

(Te Aka) is the largest cancer research centre in the country in terms of the number of researchers involved. It aims to support and enhance cancer research by encouraging researchers to collaborate across disciplines and with patients and clinicians. It also aims to foster and deepen relationships with district health boards (DHBs) as well as with clinical, philanthropic, community and industry organisations.

Longer term, Te Aka aims to work with clinical partners to develop an integrated or comprehensive cancer centre where patients, clinicians and researchers can interact in a physical environment that delivers superior care to patients, supports their families and advances cutting-edge research.

鈥淐ancer affects nearly all of us,鈥 says Professor , who is Associate Dean (Research) at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and one of the four directors of Te Aka. 鈥淏etween one in three and one in two of us will get cancer in our lifetimes. Many of us will die with cancer and some of us will die of cancer. The whole point of life-changing research in this area is to make the latter less common.鈥

鈥淲e want to improve outcomes for all 免费色情视频ers affected by cancer and their wh膩nau,鈥 says , another of the Te Aka directors, who is also Professor of Molecular Medicine and Pathology and consultant haematologist at 免费色情视频 City Hospital. 鈥淪pecifically, we want to address issues of inequity in all areas of the cancer pathway from prevention strategies to diagnosis, treatment and outcome.鈥

鈥淏etween one in three and one in two of us will get cancer in our lifetimes. Many of us will die with cancer and some of us will die of cancer. The whole point of life-changing research in this area is to make the latter less common.鈥

 Professor Andrew Shelling 

A focus on health equity

Though cancer doesn鈥檛 discriminate, inequities woven into the fabric of society result in inquitable cancer outcomes. Recent research has shown that M膩ori are twice as likely to die from cancer as non-M膩ori. In fact, life expectancy is seven years shorter for M膩ori than for non-M膩ori.

鈥淢膩ori don鈥檛 live seven years less than non-M膩ori because of some fluke of genetics. It鈥檚 because of how our society is set up,鈥 says  (Te Whakat艒hea), who is Manutaki Haumanu M膩ori (Clinical Director M膩ori) of Te Aka. Laking also has a similar role in M膩ori health with the 免费色情视频 District Health Board as well as being a medical oncologist and honourary University of 免费色情视频 academic.

鈥淢膩ori don鈥檛 live seven years less than non-M膩ori because of some fluke of genetics. It鈥檚 because of how our society is set up. Equity is about remedying uneven outcomes in health and wellbeing that are avoidable and unjust.鈥
Dr George Laking

鈥淓quity is about remedying uneven outcomes in health and wellbeing that are avoidable and unjust.鈥

Inequities exist along every step of the cancer journey, says Leesa Russell, project manager for Te Aka.

鈥淭he Waitangi Tribunal Health Services and Outcomes Inquiry found that the health system as a whole is inequitable for M膩ori. When it comes to cancer, M膩ori access services less, feel less comfortable in the environment, and tend to be diagnosed later, when the cancer is worse.鈥

These inequities extend to research. At Te Aka, only four percent of members are M膩ori, though M膩ori make up nearly 17 percent of the population. That鈥檚 why one of the centre鈥檚 goals is to develop M膩ori cancer clinicians and researchers in particular as part of a broader mandate to train future leaders in cancer research and treatment.

In addition to improving equity, Crown entities, including universities and district health boards (DHBs), must honour their obligations to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Treaty of Waitangi, says Laking.

鈥淎 large part of what Te Tiriti is about is maximising the wellbeing and success of M膩ori in the context of living in a land that鈥檚 shared with the Crown. Historically, the Crown has failed to live up to its obligations, and that applies in the field of cancer, so it鈥檚 about time that our institutions of higher learning applied an equity lens and a Te Tiriti lens to all their work.鈥

photo (George)
Dr George Laking

Pacific peoples also face health inequities and have a higher cancer death rate than the general population. Te Aka is starting to engage with M膩ori and Pacific organisations to build positive relationships with the communities they serve.

Another focus is gender equity. By applying a gender lens to its , the Centre is helping female and non-binary researchers, particularly up-and-coming ones, to make their mark in a range of areas incluing endometrial cancer research and the impact of nutritition on childhood cancer.

A lengthy building process

鈥淭hough the Centre for Cancer Research is in its early days as a formal entity, it鈥檚 based on a lot of deep and productive relationships. There鈥檚 nothing else with its scope and scale in 免费色情视频.鈥
Megan Putterill

The idea of bringing together the University鈥檚 cancer researchers has been brewing for many years. 

Megan Putterill, another of the centre鈥檚 directors, has been working towards creating Te Aka for the best part of a decade.

Putterill is Strategic Development Manager for the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and the , which links the University of 免费色情视频 with 免费色情视频鈥檚 three DHBs for research, teaching and clinical delivery purposes.

She helped launch the entities that form some of the building blocks of Te Aka 鈥 , a genomics lab largely focused on cancer research; the , an early-phase clinical research facility dedicated to providing patients access to novel anticancer therapies; and , which collects tissue samples and relevant clinical information donated by patients to support ethically approved medical research.

鈥淎 lot of groundwork needed to be laid. Doing it under the auspices of the 免费色情视频 Academic Health Alliance gave us the mandate to work very closely with the 免费色情视频 DHBs,鈥 says Putterill. 鈥淭hough the Centre for Cancer Research is in its early days as a formal entity, it鈥檚 based on a lot of deep and productive relationships. There鈥檚 nothing else with its scope and scale in 免费色情视频.鈥

Unique strengths

Headquartered at 免费色情视频鈥檚 largest university, in its largest and most diverse city, Te Aka has the critical mass of researchers and patients to set the pace for cancer research nationally and to make an impact internationally. Its researchers have strong links with researchers and clinicians across the country and the world. This helps link research and practice.

鈥淩esearchers are often aware of the ways to answer research questions but may not be aware what the clinical question is. Clinicians are aware of the question but may not know how to answer it,鈥 says Browett. 鈥淏y working together, we can make research relevant and immediately applicable.鈥

Cutting-edge Te Aka research is already helping patients through cancer genomics and personalised medicine. In addition to his mahi as a Te Aka director, Browett co-leads a group sequencing individual patients鈥 blood cancer genes to work out how best to treat them given the specific mutations that led to their cancers. Other researchers are applying genomics to solid tumours. Te Aka members are also internationally recognised in areas including population health, epidemiology and drug discovery.

鈥淩esearchers are often aware of the ways to answer research questions but may not be aware what the clinical question is. Clinicians are aware of the question but may not know how to answer it. By working together, we can make research relevant and immediately applicable.鈥
Professor Peter Browett

Future aims

Image (Leesa)
Project Manager Leesa Russell

Currently, Te Aka is a virtual entity within the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences but it is in the process of applying to be recognised as a university-wide research centre. Its future ambitions are even bigger.

In the short term, the centre is working with  on building national cancer data sharing infrastructure. That project will bring together about 40 researchers who work on large data sets. 

Within a few years, Te Aka aims to establish itself as a national Centre of Research Excellence, 免费色情视频鈥檚 first such centre in cancer research. To accomplish this, it is working to build and formalise collaborative relationships and structures across the country. 

Longer term, Te Aka would like to build a bricks-and-mortar facility, tentatively called the Integrated or Comprehensive Cancer Centre, that will bring together over 100 of its researchers in a space near the 免费色情视频 City Hospital where they can work directly with clinicians, cancer patients and patients鈥 wh膩nau. 

The other two-thirds of the CCR鈥檚 members will continue to be linked virtually, as is appropriate for non-clinical researchers in areas such as cancer health economics, cancer prevention and health policy. 

Through its transdisciplinary, inter-institutional work, the Centre for Cancer Research aims to improve cancer care, treatment and prevention for individuals, wh膩nau and communities across Aotearoa 免费色情视频, now and into the future.

Work with or donate to Te Aka M膩tauranga Matepukupuku | The Centre for Cancer Research