The Evolution of Cancer Research

More than 1 million men are diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa) annually, worldwide. First-line screening tests for 'prostate-specific antigen' (PSA) in blood but it has a low diagnostic accuracy so patients will unnecessarily undergo a prostate biopsy which can be expensive and can cause side effects such as incontinence, impotence, and infections. We have discovered a novel blood test for accurately diagnosing PCa and drastically reducing unnecessary biopsies. We’ll also discuss current challenges in the clinical practice of PCa diagnosis and the difficulty of translating research findings.

How do we decide how much cancer treatment is just enough, given the complexity that exists between cancer types and even between individual tumours? Dr. Debbie Hicks will host an interactive demonstration of the Goldilocks approach in action, applied to childhood brain tumour treatment. We will learn about how the biology of tumours is used to match patients to appropriate treatment groups to ensure the right treatment is given, at the right dose, at the right time.