September is International Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and The Lott is proud to support some of the Aussie organisations improving outcomes for children diagnosed with the aggressive disease. 

Our goal is to continue to promote the wonderful work of our partners, who continue to make a difference in this space. 

This week,  we highlight the work that both the Children’s Cancer Institute – Zero Childhood Cancer Program and the Children’s Hospital Foundation’s - Children’s Brain Cancer Centre are doing to support children and families facing their cancer journey. 

Children’s Cancer Institute - Zero Childhood Cancer Program 

Led by the Children’s Cancer Institute and the Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, Zero Childhood Cancer brings together all major Australian clinical and research centres working in childhood cancer.

Since its national clinical trial launched in September 2017, more than 500 children and young people with high-risk cancer have been enrolled.

For over 70% of these patients, the program has successfully identified in under nine weeks a personalised treatment plan to target the specific genetic changes driving their unique cancer.

Children’s Cancer Institute’s Executive Director Professor Michelle Haber AM said The Lott’s recent $600,000 donation would allow more seriously ill Australian children to enrol in Zero Childhood Cancer’s groundbreaking program.

“Zero Childhood Cancer is about giving children smarter, targeted therapy by identifying the unique genetic changes of each child’s cancer and using that to identify what drugs are going to be best placed to fight that cancer,” she explained.

“It’s about improving the outcome for every individual child and sparing the child of the side effects of other aggressive and unsuccessful treatments.”
Children’s Hospital Foundation – Children’s Brain Cancer Centre 

At the Children’s Brain Cancer Centre, , the best clinicians, researchers and facilities are creating the perfect storm to change the future for children diagnosed with brain cancer.

Despite advances in many other types of childhood cancer, survival rates for brain cancer have barely changed over the past 30 years.

Currently, one Australian child dies every nine days from this disease.  

Centre Co-director  Professor Brandon Wainwright is one of the passionate people helping lead this unique program between the Children’s Hospital Foundation and world-leading institutions. 

“To get big things done, you not only need big support, you also need somebody who’s going to commit to the long term,” he said. 

“We want to shift survival by years, not by months. In order to do that, you have to think differently, and you have to be prepared to be brave.