A very warm hello to the many generous Gifts in Wills supporters who are contributing to the future of cancer research. It was lovely to speak with you at the State Library event in November last year about the things that motivate me and my team to do cancer research. I shared a little about our work – funded by generous donations to Cancer Council Victoria – on repurposing cardiac drugs called beta-blockers for cancer.
Since I spoke with you, we have discovered that beta-blocker drugs play a special role during cancer treatments, such as radiotherapy. We found that by blocking the stress response, beta-blockers boost the function of immune cells, helping the body to protect us during cancer treatment. We are now examining clinical samples for evidence that beta-blockers can have these beneficial effects when used during treatment such as radiotherapy. Our goal is to both save lives and improve the quality of lives of those with cancer.
Thank you again for taking the time to learn about our research and support the future research of many others.
Professor Erica Sloan
Monash University
