RBWH’s Professor Owen Ung and Pathology Queensland/UQCCR’s Professor Sunil Lakhani.

Tissue donated to the Brisbane Breast Bank by breast cancer patients at RBWH is helping leading Queensland researchers change the future of breast cancer diagnosis, prevention and treatment.

The study will utilise the Herston Imaging Research Facility (HIRF) with its unique hi-tech imaging technologies including PET/CT and PET/MRI.

A team comprising Professor Sunil Lakhani from Pathology Queensland and UQCCR, Professors Georgia-Chenevix Trench and Kum Kum Khanna from QIMR Berghofer will lead the initiative that will look at new ways to treat breast cancer.

“Our research will seek to understand who is most susceptible to breast cancer, the role that genes play in tumour development and behaviour, and why some types of breast cancer spread from the breast to other parts of the body,” Professor Lakhani said.

“Armed with this knowledge, we will work to develop tools to prevent, diagnose and treat breast cancer, including those more aggressive, spreading forms.”

The team received an NHMRC Program Grant of $6.5 million to carry out the research which also involves collaborators from RBWH’s Breast Unit, Imaging/HIRF and Neurosurgery.