The Support for Cancer Clinical Trials Program provides funding to Australia's Multi-site Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Groups to build their capacity to undertake cancer clinical trials.
Cancer Australia supports cancer clinical trials in Australia in the following ways:
- Supports the 14 Multi-site Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Groups to develop investigator-initiated and industry-independent cancer clinical trials protocols.
- Funds the provision of National Technical Services to provide the Multi-site Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Groups access to expert advice in areas of common need. National Technical Services include the Genomics Cancer Clinical Trials Initiative, Health/Pharmaco-economic Support Services, and Quality of Life Support Services.
Cancer Australia has awarded over $22 million to continue supporting the 14 Multi-site Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Groups until June 2027.
The Support for Cancer Clinical Trials Program contributes to the delivery of the Australian Cancer Plan through targeted and innovative research investment into areas of unmet and emerging need; improving clinical trial design, including methods to improve equitable access to trials; and accelerate translation of innovative research into clinical practice.
The SCCT program is globally unique, designed to fund the development of clinical trial protocols and build sector capacity through core infrastructure funding. It fills a critical research funding gap in Australia by supporting the advancement of cancer prevention, treatment, and care programs that may not be of commercial interest to industry. This program is crucial for smaller CTGs with narrow or underfunded research focuses, including rare and less common cancers, helping to build a strong pipeline of cancer clinical trials in Australia.
By addressing unmet need, the SCCT program has increased the number and value of successful grant submissions, expanded clinical trial sites, and boosted patient recruitment, particularly through tele-trials. The program will continue to have a profound impact on improving access to optimal cancer care across Australia, particularly for people living in rural and remote areas as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The SCCT grant recipients are:
- Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group
- Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group
- Australia and New Zealand Sarcoma Association
- Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology and Oncology Group
- Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group
- Australia New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group
- Breast Cancer Trials
- Cancer Symptom Trials
- Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology
- Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials
- Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Group
- Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group
- Thoracic Oncology Group Australasia
- Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group