Funding boost for pancreatic cancer research
Media releaseFor more than a year pancreatic cancer patient Grace King has been on an unwavering mission to not only beat, but raise awareness and research funding for one of the most ‘sneaky of cancers’.
Mrs King’s hard work has now been recognised by the Victorian Government in the form of $60,000 funding through the Victorian Cancer Agency for the King Family Scholarship to support pancreatic cancer research coordinated by Deakin University’s Medical School. The funding was announced today (Friday 13 November) by Minister for Health, the Hon Jill Hennessy.
“I am so thrilled with the support Minister Hennessy is providing to the King Family Scholarship,” Mrs King said.
“This funding will help to realise my vision of supporting a PhD student to concentrate on research for pancreatic cancer. This means there will be brilliant minds dedicated to researching new treatments for cancer patients.”
Professor Ken Walder, chair of metabolic diseases in the Deakin Medical School, welcomed the support of Mrs King and the State Government for this important area of research.
“We are extremely grateful to Mrs King for the work she is doing to raise funding for our study and delighted that the Victorian Government has chosen to support her efforts,” Professor Walder said.
“Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to treat. This study will trial the use of two chemotherapy agents in the treatment of neuroendocrine cancers that commonly arise from the pancreas.
“It is hoped that the trial will shed some light on why one strain of this cancer is so different from other pancreatic cancers and will not respond to any treatment, giving patients no hope of recovery.”
Dr Mustafa Khasraw, the principal investigator of the study, expressed his gratitude to Mrs King.
“This announcement is greatly received by the study team,” Dr Khasraw said.
“The support of the King Family Scholarship along with the recent announcement of funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council will allow us to upscale this important clinical trial.”
As far as cancers go, Mrs King’s experience shows why she refers to pancreatic cancer is as one of the sneakiest cancers.
In April 2014 Mrs King was under a lot of stress when her brother suffered pancreatitis and her father a stroke which saw both of them admitted to two different hospitals. Three months of running between hospitals while working full time and caring for her family started to take a toll on her health, which she shrugged off as stress.
“I had lost between 10-15 kilos in a month, I also felt extremely fatigued and tired, I had a pain like a ball just under my breast bone and this penetrated through to my back, my legs were itchy (which I put down to my stockings and kept saying I needed to change the brand), I had also had gastro like symptoms,” Mrs King explained.
“All of this I put down to my stress levels, never once thinking that there was ever anything really wrong. Well I was wrong in feeling this, because these are the symptoms of pancreatic cancer. This is why this cancer is so devious, unforgiving and aggressive because it gives patients a short life span and no real sign that there is something wrong.”
Following a remark from her daughter that her eyes were yellow, along with her skin, Mrs King started to think that she might need to see the doctor. The next day, while getting ready for work, Mrs King found she was physically unable to move and was taken to hospital by her husband. An initial diagnosis of stress and gastroenteritis was soon changed to pancreatic cancer.
“This was a very emotional and difficult time, especially when it came to telling our children,” Mrs King said.
“But the worst was yet to come as my surgeon said the cancer was inoperable and my prognosis was not good and I was given a very short life span. I turned to my husband and told him that I was and am going to beat this unforgiving cancer.”
Chemotherapy reduced the size of the cancer and Mrs King was able to have an operation to remove it this year. She is still undergoing chemotherapy to keep the cancer at bay.
It was during a conversation with her doctor about her vision to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer that Mrs King asked about what research was being done on preventing and treating pancreatic cancer, and was told of the study being undertaken through the Deakin Medical School.
“Unfortunately, there is very little if any funding for this cancer and no recognition so I made it my mission to raise research funding and public awareness of this cancer,” Mrs King said.
“I feel that it is important that people know about the symptoms and not to think of the symptoms as just being related to stress. If I can help at least one person then I have achieved one of my goals
“I do not hold celebrity status or have any financial backing, I am only a housewife who wants to bring awareness and raise some funding to help others as much as I can whilst I am still undergoing chemotherapy.”
With the support of family and friends, Mrs King has so far raised more than $22,000 in addition to the Victorian Government funding announced today.
For more information about Grace King and the King Family Scholarship go to http://gracesjourney.com/.
ABOUT THE STUDY
The NABNEC study (A feasibility study of NAB-Paclitaxel in combination with Carboplatin as first line treatment of Gastrointestinal Neuroendocrine Carcinomas) aims to test whether using two chemotherapy agents NAB paclitaxel in combination with Carboplatin as treatment for NeuroEndocrine tumours is safe and effective at reducing the tumour size, and in preventing, treating and delaying symptoms of the cancer.
The study will use the blood samples and tissue biopsies to carry out analyses to find new markers that will enable us to better understand the disease developments, improve the methods of its early diagnosis and develop the more effective treatment methods.
Some 20 patients across six different sites will be recruited to the study over a 2 year period. The participating hospitals are Barwon Health, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Monash Health (VIC), Queen Elizabeth Hospital (SA), Royal North Shore Hospital (NSW) and Royal Hobart Hospital (TAS).
All research samples will be sent to the research laboratory at Deakin University in Burwood with research undertaken by PhD student.
The study is endorsed by the Australasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group (AGITG) and also supported by the UNICORN foundation and Specialised Therapeutics Australia.