Helping rural patients take part in cancer trials

Cancer specialists and researchers at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland and Te Toka Tumai, Auckland City Hospital and are preparing to trial a model for clinical trials that will help rural and regional cancer patients take part.

The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) announced funding for this study as part of its 2024 Project and Programme funding round.

These grants are designed to support excellent research ideas with strong potential for impact, innovation and improving health outcomes.

Auckland City Hospital and University of Auckland oncologists Dr Michelle Wilson and Dr Nicola Lawrence are co-leading this study with an experienced team of medical oncologists and researchers.

They will use an ongoing clinical trial (Cancer Molecular Screening and Therapeutics or MoST) at Auckland City Hospital, that offers genomic (DNA) testing for patients with rare cancers, as the basis for the study.

Using a decentralised model, the team will expand the trial to include patients in Northland and Canterbury to ensure the model works for both small and large sites with wide geographical spreads.

International guidelines recommend that participation in clinical trials is considered part of standard management as it can be the best treatment option for many cancer patients. However, despite this, very few patients have access to clinical trials in New Zealand, with smaller hospitals and rural areas having almost no patients enrolled on clinical trials.

For this study, the primary trial site – Auckland City Hospital – will work collaboratively with the smaller ‘satellite’ sites in Northland and Canterbury to enrol, consent and treat patients for the trial.

Remote monitoring and data collection via telehealth and testing using local laboratories will reduce logistical difficulties in accessing the trial location.

This model has been successfully used across Australia, Canada and the UK to increase access to clinical trials at rural and remote sites.

Recipients of the HRC’s 2024 Project Grants at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland

Dr Timothy Angeli-Gordon, ABI
Minimally invasive gastric ablation for GI disorders
36 months, $1,199,996

Dr Laird Cameron, FMHS
Optimising immunotherapy for Māori with advanced non-small cell lung cancer
36 months, $1,199,987

Associate Professor Nicole Moreland, FMHS
Mapping childhood immunity to Strep A
36 months, $1,199,999

Dr Natalie Netzler, FMHS, and Dr Victoria Woolner, Victoria University of Wellington
Harnessing the antiviral activities of Samoan traditional medicines
48 months, $1,166,908

Dr Julia Shanks and Associate Professor Rohit Ramchandra, FMHS
Increasing cardiac vagal activity as a novel treatment for heart failure
36 months, $1,199,996

Dr Michelle Wilson, Te Whatu Ora - Te Toka Tumai Auckland, and Dr Nicola Lawrence, FMHS
Evaluation of the implementation of decentralised clinical trial methodology
36 months, $1,199,999