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Thalidomide - the ‘morning-sickness' drug that caused serious birth defects in the 1950s - is now being used to treat cancer.  And new ways are being developed to tailor cancer treatment to individual patients.

Scientists at The University of Western Australia have received funding to carry out research into thalidomide in a record almost $3 million funding announced today by Cancer Council WA.

Winthrop Professor Lawrie Abraham, Head of Translational Genetics in UWA's Centre for the Genetic Origins of Health and Disease, Associate Professor Scott Stewart, Associate Professor Keith Stubbs and Vacation Scholarship-winner, UWA student Douglas Velho, are among researchers around the world investigating the actions of thalidomide on cancers, including in the liver, blood and bone.

They were among medical scientists at UWA and its affiliates - the WA Institute of Medical Research and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research - who received the lion's share of the funds.

UWA's Winthrop Professor Cameron Platell received one of the biggest grants.  He will investigate how a patient with cancer in the lower part of their bowel will respond to chemo- or radiotherapy, and tailor the treatment accordingly.

Dr Rebecca Fuller of UWA's School of Chemistry and Biochemistry won a Suzanne Cavanagh Early Career Investigator Grant to develop a technique to see very small tumours that are sometimes undiagnosed because of their size.

She will develop new contrast agents to specifically target cancer cells, find small tumours early, identify how active they are and begin treatment as soon as possible.

Among other recipients, Mr Terry Boyle of UWA's Centre for Medical Research, received a grant to study whether physical activity can make a difference to the well-being of survivors of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

And Research Assistant Professor Claire Johnson of UWA's Cancer and Palliative Research and Evaluation Unit will use her funding to research how to optimise the quality of multi-disciplinary care for people with cancer and their families.

Media references

Erin Broderick (Cancer Council)  (+61 4) 39 990 359
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783