UQ researcher investigates revolutionary treatment for rare brain cancer

A University of Queensland researcher has been awarded more than $3.8 million from the Medical Research Future Fund to trial a revolutionary therapy for patients with a rare form of brain cancer.

Associate Professor Colm Keane from UQ’s Frazer Institute will lead a team in a study which aims to provide access to Australian made, novel immune therapies to treat patients with relapsed Primary Brain Lymphoma (PCNSL). 

PCNSL is extremely difficult to treat with standard chemotherapy and even if a remission can be achieved many patients relapse within a year of their diagnosis and survival rates are very low.

The study will trial a novel national treatment strategy for PCNSL using a patient’s own T Cells that have been re-engineered to recognise tumour cells. 

Most Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells (CAR-T cells) are currently produced in the United States and wait times can be long. This study will use CAR-T cells manufactured in Australia in collaboration with teams at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital/QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and Westmead Hospital/University of Sydney so Australian patients can receive this novel treatment in the quickest possible timeframe.

The trial will run with the backing of the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group (ALLG).

This study is funded under the MRFF Clinical Trials Activity Initiative which supports Australian clinical trials, including those investigating new treatments for rare diseases.

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