PROJECT
Minderoo Precision
Brain Tumour
Programme
OVERVIEW
Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer, the treatment for which has remained largely unchanged for decades. The average length of survival is just 13 months from diagnosis.
As founding members and major funders of the UK’s Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, Minderoo Foundation is committed to:
- improving our understanding of the molecular drivers of brain tumours and changing the culture of clinical care; and
- building the systems and infrastructure to deliver universal access to targeted and personalised care for patients with brain cancer.
The Minderoo Precision Brain Tumour Programme — in partnership with the University of Cambridge, the UK National Health Service (NHS), and Illumina — is a landmark project providing brain cancer patients in the UK with access to a new level of innovation and excellence in treatment and care.
The Programme aims to successfully integrate personalised medicine — where genomic information about a patient’s tumour is used to diagnose and plan targeted treatment — into routine care in NHS clinical settings for brain tumour patients.
Together, we’re building the infrastructure and the systems required by implementing a workflow across three integrated arms:
- Genomic sampling and sequencing pipelines.
- Precision medicine program to inform clinical treatment.
- Discovery science to identify new therapeutic targets.
Prioritising a genomic medicine approach is setting a new benchmark of treatment, establishing the first-ever precision medicine system for brain cancer patients in the country. Critically, this work is available for all patients through a local NHS routine neuro-oncology multidisciplinary team meeting.
Patients eligible for enrolment on the Minderoo 5G Platform Trial will be identified through genomic screening in the Programme, offering patients access to new treatment options.
It is our goal that sharing the processes and insights gained with global partners, including here in Australia, will help change the prognosis for brain tumour patients worldwide.
The Minderoo Precision Brain Tumour Programme works in partnership with the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS East Genomic Laboratory Hub, Illumina and the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission.
Connecting the dots with
the Federated Cancer Data Alliance
This project is contributing genomic and clinical data to Minderoo Foundation’s Federated Cancer Data alliance, which connects harmonised and de-identified cancer patient data, creating a platform to promote global collaborative research.
PARTNERS
VIDEO
Transforming brain cancer care
in honour of Tessa Jowell
Baroness Tessa Jowell, a former UK Labour minister known as the ‘people’s politician’, died from glioblastoma in 2018. Tessa’s mission was to tackle inequality — so it was tragic yet fitting that she used her final parliamentary speech to call for a transformation in the way cancer is treated.
Her daughter, Jess Mills, leads the delivery of her legacy as a founding member of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, and is Minderoo Foundation’s Collaborate Against Cancer UK Brain Cancer Ambassador.