About the Cancer Centre

A New Clinical Research Facility

St. Vincent's delivers an integrated, holistic and patient-focused cancer service that covers prevention, screening, treatment, palliation, and clinical and basic research.

Our new Clinical Research Centre to be established on Level 3 will transform scientific discoveries arising from laboratory, clinical, or population studies into applications to reduce cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality. It will create a hub for cancer research coordination and will incorporate input from oncologists, haematologists, palliative care, the Palliative Care Research Group and the cancer coordination unit.

Central to all our research is the patient.

Cancer research across the precinct will “connect” in the new Clinical Research Centre – developments at the Bernard O'Brien Institute, at the St. Vincent's Institute, within the hospital and the new cancer centre will come together to find the best ways forward in cancer treatments and potential cures.

St. Vincent's has collaborations and partnerships with a number of other cancer care providers, including the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (PMCC). St. Vincent's participates in the Western and Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service, along with Melbourne Health, Royal Women's Hospital, Royal Children's Hospital, Western Health, Mercy Werribee Hospital and PMCC.

St. Vincent's also integrates clinical care with research and education, providing an excellent platform for basic scientific and clinical research opportunities. It has an extensive research program through hospital departments and associated research entities, with links to an impressive national network of research institutes that are connected through the Sisters of Charity Health Service. A number of St. Vincent's research groups are at the forefront of their fields, with research interests including neurosciences, medical imaging, immunology, osteoporosis and cancer-related bone disease and cancer treatments.

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials for cancer have been conducted at St. Vincent's for more than 30 years but at the present time, this work is fragmented.

The new centre will strengthen all areas of our clinical research. It will focus on the patient coordination for clinical trials which has enormous potential for improving not only the outcome of patients today, but finding the discoveries for tomorrow.

The Clinical Research Centre will provide space for more researchers which is particularly timely – we have recently joined Cancer Trials Australia (CTA) - a Melbourne based not-for-profit company that conducts cancer clinical trials. This association will further increase the availability of trials for our patients.

CTA needs access to a network of excellence in cancer knowledge and a broad patient base to bring research through to therapeutic products. At St. Vincent's, clinical studies will be performed in medical oncology, haematology and bone marrow transplantation to name a few. We will also be more heavily involved in psycho-social research.

CTA currently works with Austin Health, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne Health, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research and Western Health.

The Clinical Research Centre at St. Vincent's will trial the research today to find the solutions for tomorrow.