Taking steps to reduce the devastating impact of cancer on women.
Fast Facts
- On average 69,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in Australian women each year.
- One in two women will be diagnosed with cancer by age 85
- 20,428 Australian women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022
- 3,178 Australian women died of breast cancer in 2022
More than 1000 walkers hit Perth streets this morning on the 11th annual New Town Toyota Walk for Women’s Cancer.
Together they have raised over $1,450,000 for cancer research at Perth’s Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research (the Perkins).
Perkins CEO, Professor Peter Leedman AO, said the walkers are single minded in their pursuit of better cancer prevention and treatments.
“Medical research is the key to change.
“Sadly, not all cancers have good treatment options. For example, one of the most devastating breast cancers that more commonly occurs in women under the age of 40, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), currently has limited treatment options and a poor prognosis.
“Tragically, TNBC accounts for about 10-15% of all breast cancers. New effective treatment options are urgently needed.
“In one of the cancer laboratories at the Harry Perkins Institute here in Perth researchers recently discovered that a protein associated with an increase in the growth and spread of cancer cells occurs in high levels in TNBC.
“These researchers are now working on blocking that protein in TNBC cells using a special technique and are finding that the growth of the cells slows down and their ability to spread is reduced. This is the type of project funded by the New Town Toyota Walk for Women’s Cancer,” Professor Leedman said.
In the past decade the Walk for Women’s Cancer has raised over $12m for cancer research at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.
More information on the New Town Toyota Walk for Women’s Cancer website.
