Peter Mac Professor Paul James awarded significant MRFF grant to predict risk of common cancers
27 November 2023
Peter Mac Professor Paul James has won a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant worth over $2.8 million for a trial aiming to predict an individual's future risk of common cancers.
The project will implement polygenic risk scores alongside current genetic testing for cancer predisposition. Polygenic risk scores (also known as PGS) can provide a measure of your disease risk due to your genes.
Professor James, a clinical geneticist and Director of the Parkville Familial Cancer Centre at Peter Mac and Royal Melbourne Hospital, said these PGS tests have reached the point where they are ready to be used in clinical trials.
“This project will bring together a cross-disciplinary group of experts to perform a definitive trial of adding PGS-based testing to current genetic testing offered for the inherited risk of cancer,” he said.
“Combining PGS with other factors that affect disease risk can give a better idea of how likely you are to get a specific disease than considering either alone.
“The first stage of the trial will leverage data for 16,000 Australians to deliver new solutions to the remaining barriers to implementation.
“Then, in the second stage multi-cancer PGS will be combined with personal risk factors to provide a comprehensive assessment of the risk of four common cancers for a cohort of 1000 individuals.
“This project builds on the investigators decade of experience with cancer PGS to perform a comprehensive trial of introducing PGS in practice.”
The project will provide practical solutions for outstanding technical, clinical and social concerns and definitive data on clinical impact.
The Australian Government’s MRFF fund is an ongoing research fund supporting Australian health and medical research.