Laboratory Information
Translational Research and Collaborations
Our laboratory forms the WEHI node of the Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium, which is an "Institute-without-walls", comprising a number of laboratories throughout Melbourne focusing on breast cancer research. Our groups meet on a regular basis.
We have strong links to basic, clinical and translational research efforts, which include:
- The VBCRC-supported Royal Melbourne Hospital Tissue Bank
- The Royal Melbourne Hospital Department of Medical Oncology and Familial Cancer Centre
- The Royal Womens Hospital and Royal Melbourne Hospital combined Breast Service
- The Australian New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group
- kConFab, a national consortium providing a resource for the study of multiple-case breast cancer families
- Cancer Trials Australia
- Victorian Cancer Agency
Research Support
We gratefully acknowledge current and previous research support from:
- The Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium
- The National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia)
- The National Breast Cancer Foundation
- The Cancer Council Victoria
- The Australian Stem Cell Centre
- US Department of Defense
- Susan Komen Foundation (USA)
Breast Cancer Facts
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy to affect women, and is the most common cause of cancer related death amongst Australian women. Approximately 1 in 11 women will develop breast cancer before age 75, and approximately 20% will die from the disease. Since the early 1990's mortality figures have begun to fall (by approximately 2% per year), largely due to the introduction of improved medical treatment (including adjuvant chemotherapy and tamoxifen) and better early detection. Approximately 5% of breast cancer is attributable to high penetrance hereditary predisposition genes (such as BRCA1 and BRCA2).
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