Wednesday July 26, 2023
Volume 38 No. 26
$1 inc. GST
The Cobar Weekly Services Club in a precarious situation Pg 2
Police locate drugs in two vehicle searches Pg 3
Work on new parking area has begun Pg 4
Cobar to be included in clinical trial
Cancer patients living in Cobar will bene- The first clinical trial will begin in Dubbo in patients, whatever the cancer, regardless of fit from a clinical trial to be undertaken by coming months, with other areas to follow. location, age, income, or status,” Mr Johnson Macquarie University in collaboration with Love Your Sister co-founder Samuel John- said. the Oncology Department at Dubbo Hospi- son OAM said he was “beyond excited” about “Collectivity is the answer when equity is the tal, as well as the newly formed Western the partnership with Macquarie University. aim and I look forward to encouraging the NSW Clinical Trial Support Unit and “Underpinning this grant is Love Your Sis- Australian business sector to join me in beNSW Health. ter’s promise to fund research that improves coming part of the solution.” Macquarie University has received a grant of access to precision medicine for all cancer Continued Page 2. $1.2 million from Australian cancer charity ‘Love Your Sister’ to bring international standard clinical trials to Dubbo. Professor of Oncology, Howard Gurney, who also runs the Macquarie University Clinical Trials Unit, is leading the Oncology trials for a regional, rural and remote patients collaboration ONTRAC project, which will run over three years. “People in regional, rural and remote Australia have considerably poorer outcomes with most common cancers than other Australians, and this is especially true for Aboriginal people,” Professor Gurney said. “Governments have been investing in cancer care centres and telemedicine to better meet needs in rural and regional areas, and this is an important step, but it is taking time to see this translated into improved outcomes for people with cancer in these areas. “ONTRAC aims to not only bring cuttingedge options for cancer treatment to our most vulnerable populations, but also to establish fully equipped clinical trial units in regional healthcare centres and train local people in clinical trials delivery to staff them. “By doing this we hope to increase the number of regional, rural, remote and Aboriginal patients taking part in clinical trials, while Australian actor and ‘Love Your Sister’ cancer charity co-founder Samuel Johnson with also minimising the need for them to travel in Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton chatting last week about the clinical trial order to participate,” Professor Gurney said. coming to Dubbo. ▪ Photo contributed
