Making cancer treatment worth it

Cancer treatment can save or extend lives, BUT sometimes it doesn’t.

• How do we make sure we’re not giving people aggressive therapy that is ultimately futile?
• Is saving a life enough – what about the treatments that result in serious side effects?
• How is personalised medicine improving outcomes and patient treatment experiences?
• How do we help people who are suffering (and their loved ones) have reasonable expectations and make informed choices?
• What is the cost (personal, health, financial) of a treatment versus the benefit and how is this changing?

Join us at Making cancer treatment worth it - a free public event in Adelaide, which will be livestreamed.

You’ll hear from a panel of researchers and clinicians including:

• Professor Mark Dawson: a haematologist and clinician-scientist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre who has revolutionised the understanding and treatment of blood cancers, such as leukaemia.
• Associate Professor David Elliott: a cardiac stem cell researcher at Murdoch Children's Research Institute. He is working to reduce the damaging side effects of anti-cancer drugs on the hearts of children undergoing life-saving chemotherapy.
• Professor Megan Munsie: a stem cell ethics and education expert at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, with a deep knowledge of the extent and risks of unproven stem cell treatments and medical tourism.

ABC Radio National Big Ideas presenter Natasha Mitchell will host the conversation, recorded for national broadcast.

This event is hosted by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) and the  University of Adelaide/South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute, and supported by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia as part of its mission to provide community education. It is the public event held in conjunction with the ASSCR 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting.