Pancreatic cancer is a major killer in Australia, with an estimated 3900 people dying from this disease in 2024.

The cancer is often diagnosed late due to a lack of specific early-stage symptoms, meaning most patients are diagnosed once the cancer has already begun to affect nearby organs.

To improve outcomes for pancreatic cancer, we need to make it easier for clinicians and patients to access new therapies and clinical trials.

The PURPLE Translational Platform is a landmark hub designed to connect the right patient with the right clinical trial, by providing easy access to information on studies that are actively recruiting in Australia.

The multifaceted platform integrates the large-scale PURPLE pancreatic cancer clinical registry, which tracks over 6000 patients at 57 global cancer centres.

This is enabling de-identified clinical data to be analysed in multiple ways to help clinicians improve patient diagnosis and treatment.

Dr Belinda Lee is a consultant medical oncologist who led the team of clinicians and scientists that developed the PURPLE registry.

She said the new platform streamlines data linkage, enabling PURPLE’s ‘big data’ to be at the fingertips of hundreds of experts who can accelerate the translation of discoveries into meaningful outcomes.

“When treatment options are as limited as they are in pancreatic cancer, collaboration isn’t just important – it’s essential”, Dr Lee, also a WEHI Clinical Research Fellow, said.

“Our new platform will make it easier than ever for clinicians to contribute clinical data, for researchers to engage and propose projects using novel technologies and for patients to learn how they can be a part of clinical trials.

“This will see clinicians, scientists, patients and carers who have lost loved ones to the disease, uniting to shift the landscape for pancreatic cancer research.”

The platform will leverage its matched clinical data and biospecimen biobank to enable novel clinical trial designs via registry-based studies.

It will integrate the PURPLE registry, population data from hospitals in Australia and internationally, as well as tissue-based research, to tackle the complexities of pancreatic cancer and investigate innovative trial designs for the disease.

By doing this, the digital hub will simultaneously enhance our understanding into patients’ lived experiences, revolutionise approaches to treatment development and support new drug discovery for pancreatic cancer.

“This platform is a vital step towards building the connected research ecosystem we need to make strides towards improving patient outcomes for one of Australia’s most aggressive and under-researched cancers,” Dr Lee said.

The PURPLE Translational Platform is a key initiative stemming from The Hemstritch Centre of Excellence for Pancreatic Cancer Research, based at WEHI.

Backed by business leader, philanthropist and former WEHI president Jane Hemstritch AO, the centre has committed $8 million over 10 years to accelerate effective treatments for pancreatic cancer. It stands as a tribute to her husband Philip Hemstritch and father-in-law Reginald Hemstritch, who both died of the disease.

The PURPLE Registry was established during Dr Lee’s five-year Philip Hemstritch Centenary Fellowship in pancreatic cancer, also supported by Jane Hemstritch.

Discover the PURPLE Translational Platform: https://www.purplepancreas.org.au

Header image: Philanthropist and former WEHI president Jane Hemstritch AO (third from right) with Hemstritch Centre researchers Dr Belinda Lee, Associate Professor Tracy Putoczki and Clara Kosasih.