Until recently, cancer of the oesophagus was a very uncommon tumour in Australia and other western populations. However during the past three decades, there have been very large increases in the incidence of this disease. Indeed, rates of oesophageal cancer have risen faster than any other cancer in the United Statesand similar dramatic increases in incidence have been observed in Europe and Australia. With increasing population prevalence of the causes of cancer of the oesophagus in western soc ....Until recently, cancer of the oesophagus was a very uncommon tumour in Australia and other western populations. However during the past three decades, there have been very large increases in the incidence of this disease. Indeed, rates of oesophageal cancer have risen faster than any other cancer in the United Statesand similar dramatic increases in incidence have been observed in Europe and Australia. With increasing population prevalence of the causes of cancer of the oesophagus in western societies (namely acid reflux, obesity and poor diet), there are strong grounds for predicting that incidence will continue to rise, and that oesophageal cancer will constitute an increasingly large burden on society. Unfortunately, treatment options are limited, survival is often short, and there is no way of identifying which tumours will respond to therapy. This proposal will collect treatment and health outcomes data for a population-based cohort of patients with oesophageal cancer. The goal is to identify prognostic and predictive markers to aid patients and clinicians when making treatment decisions, as now exist for breast cancer. Such markers may also serve as novel targets for therapy. The proposed study builds upon the platform of the Australian Cancer Study [ACS], one of the world's largest studies of oesophageal cancer. This represents a unique opportunity to investigate a pressing clinical problem by building upon a study of acknowledged international importance.Read moreRead less
First Aid For Burns: The Use Of Ice Water And Ice?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$209,668.00
Summary
Millions of people worldwide receive burn injuries every year and last year the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane alone treated more than 500 children with new burn injuries. Many of these children with burn injuries will heal burn wounds with unsightly scars and impaired skin function. Cooling burns as first aid has been used since ancient time and is proved to be the most effective way to reduce skin temperature, lessen pain, minimize the depth of injury, and ultimately improve wound heali ....Millions of people worldwide receive burn injuries every year and last year the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane alone treated more than 500 children with new burn injuries. Many of these children with burn injuries will heal burn wounds with unsightly scars and impaired skin function. Cooling burns as first aid has been used since ancient time and is proved to be the most effective way to reduce skin temperature, lessen pain, minimize the depth of injury, and ultimately improve wound healing outcome. However, despite the evidence that cooling burns using ice water <4 C may be beneficial to burns, current first aid recommend to only use cold water 8-25 C and the use of ice-ice water is strongly discouraged for fear of the potential to cause hypothermia and deepen the existing burn injury. In this application we will examine the effect of ice-ice water 2 C on wound healing outcome compared to 15 C water as first aid, in an in vivo model. The wound healing will be clinically assessed by experienced clinicians weekly for six weeks, and then will also be assessed histologically and mechanically at week six. We will also determine the optimal cooling temperature and duration for injured tissue in burn wounds to recover and the conduction of cold through skin. With the coming new knowledge we wish to design an optimal cooling burn treatment which will maximize the beneficial of cooling to the burns but avoid adverse effect of excessive cooling. The success of this project will advance our knowledge on first aid treatment or burn cooling treatment and also wound healing process. It will enable us to offer better first aid treatment which may lead to wound healing with less scars, otherwise can not achieved by other current available treatments. The better healing of burn wounds will significantly improve burn patients' lives, particularly children with burn injuries. It will also release the burden on much needed health funds.Read moreRead less
AUSTRALASIAN MULTICENTRED PROSPECTIVE RANDOMISED STUDY OF LAPAROSCOPIC VS CONVENTIONAL SURGICAL TREATMENT OF COLON CA
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$495,000.00
Summary
Colon cancer is one of the most common solid tumours in western society. The usual initial treatment is excision of the cancer by an operation done through a cut down the midline of the abdominal wall. Over the past 10 years, minimally invasive technology has changed the approach to many surgical operations. A good example of this is an operation to remove the gall bladder. This is now routinely done using a laparoscope (telescope) which is introduced at the umbilicus. An image on a video screen ....Colon cancer is one of the most common solid tumours in western society. The usual initial treatment is excision of the cancer by an operation done through a cut down the midline of the abdominal wall. Over the past 10 years, minimally invasive technology has changed the approach to many surgical operations. A good example of this is an operation to remove the gall bladder. This is now routinely done using a laparoscope (telescope) which is introduced at the umbilicus. An image on a video screen of the gall bladder is then used to guide instruments to remove the gall bladder without making a large incision in the abdominal wall. This is called a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The safety of a laparoscopic assisted approach in the removal of colon cancer is yet to be determined. This study will compare the long term and short term outcomes of people who have colon cancers removed either by a laparotomy (a cut in the midline of the abdominal wall) or by a laparoscopic assisted approach (telescope).Read moreRead less
Australasian Randomised Clinical Trial Comparing Laparoscopic And Open Surgical Treatment Of Colon Cancer: Follow-up.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$233,000.00
Summary
Colon cancer is one of the most common solid tumours in western society. The usual initial treatment is excision of the cancer by an operation done through a cut down the midline of the abdominal wall. Over the past 15 years, minimally invasive technology has changed the approach to many surgical operations. A good example of this is an operation to remove the gall bladder. This is now routinely done using a laparoscope (telescope) which is introduced at the umbilicus. An image on a video screen ....Colon cancer is one of the most common solid tumours in western society. The usual initial treatment is excision of the cancer by an operation done through a cut down the midline of the abdominal wall. Over the past 15 years, minimally invasive technology has changed the approach to many surgical operations. A good example of this is an operation to remove the gall bladder. This is now routinely done using a laparoscope (telescope) which is introduced at the umbilicus. An image on a video screen of the gall bladder is then used to guide instruments to remove the gall bladder without making a large incision in the abdominal wall. This is called a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The safety of a laparoscopic assisted approach in the removal of colon cancer is yet to be determined. This study will compare the long term and short term outcomes of people who have colon cancers removed whether by laparotomy ( a cut in the midline of the abdominal wall) or by a laparoscopic assisted approach (telescope).Read moreRead less