Children’s Medical Research Institute’s Director Professor Roger Reddel has been awarded Cancer Council NSW’s The Sally Crossing AM Award for translating protein science into clinical care through ProCan.

Funding from the Sally Crossing AM Award will support the ProCan team to achieve clinical accreditation, allowing proteomic data to be used directly in patient care. This will mark a major milestone, positioning proteomics alongside genomics as a routine part of precision cancer treatment.

It is estimated that over 1.6 million Australians are currently living with or beyond a cancer diagnosis and this number is expected to rise by 2040 to 1.9 million.

Cancer treatment is becoming increasingly personalised, but until recently, doctors have relied mostly on genetic information to guide their decisions. However, most cancer drugs target proteins, not genes. Recognising this gap, Professor Reddel and co-founder Professor Phil Robinson developed ProCan.

ProCan is a pioneering research program that has developed technology to rapidly analyse proteins in cancer tissue samples. This technology can generate detailed proteomic data from tiny sections of routine cancer samples in about 80 minutes.

Previous Cancer Council NSW funding provided support of the development of advanced computational tools and secure data access for the program. This funding enabled the team to process and interpret proteomic data at an unprecedented scale, benefiting researchers worldwide. Clinicians can now receive proteomic reports within three to five days and hope to have this in the clinic in the new future.

ProCan also has a dedicated panel of people with lived experience, including cancer survivors and advocates, involved in the project since 2018. They help shape the project, advise on privacy and communication, and support advocacy and fundraising. Their input ensures the research stays relevant and accessible to patients and the wider community.