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QCGC Research is the research branch of QCGC and is an academic (non-profit) institution situated at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (Herston, Brisbane). Its research funds are administered through The University of Queensland, School of Medicine and the Gynaecological Cancer Society. The Director of QCGC Research is Professor Andreas Obermair.
QCGC Research's mission is to develop the best standard of care for women experiencing gynaecological cancer. This may include finding causes for and preventing gynaecological cancer or finding better treatment options to cure women affected by gynaecological cancer.
Our research is funded partly by competitive grants and by the generous support from individual and corporate donors.
Ovarian cancer patients are often at risk of malnutrition because of weight loss, lack of appetite and reduced food intake. Being malnourished can contribute to the incidence and severity of cancer treatment side effects and increase the risk of infection. Currently patients with advanced ovarian cancer do not receive early nutrition using a feeding tube.
The purpose of this study is to compare enteral nutrition plus standard post-surgery care with current standard post-operative care alone. This study will see if early nutrition using a feeding tube has an impact on length of hospital admission, recovery from surgery, complications from surgery, nutritional status and ultimately a reduction in treatment costs in people with Advanced Epithelial Ovarian Cancer (EOC). Primary Peritoneal Cancer (PPC) or Fallopian Tube Cancer. Nutritional support has been shown to:
LACE - Laparoscopic Approach to Carcinoma of the Endometrium. An International Multicentre Randomised Phase III Clinical Trial.
Endometrial cancer, also known as cancer of the uterine corpus, is the most common invasive gynaecological cancer in Australia. It affects approximately 1 in 75 Australian women by the age of 75 years, and there are about 1700 new cases and 230 deaths from the disease every year. Most affected women are aged between 50 and 70 years, and the total number of cases is increasing each year, due to increasing population age. The problem may be further magnified in the future, with increasing rates of obesity, a known risk factor for the disease. Current standard treatment of endometrial cancer involves open surgery to remove the uterus, and both tubes and ovaries. The Laparoscopic Approach to Cancer of the Endometrium (LACE) trial as designed to assess equivalence of performing this in a total laparoscopic (keyhole) approach. The LACE trial began recruitment in 2005 and completed the recruitment of 760 women with endometrial cancer from 22 hospitals across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Scotland in July 2010.
LACC - A Phase III Randomized Clinical Trial of Laparoscopic or Robotic Radical Hysterectomy versus Abdominal Radical Hysterectomy in Patients with Early Stage Cervical Cancer
Primary treatment for early stage cervical cancer is a total abdominal radical hysterectomy (TARH) and removal of the pelvic lymph nodes. While this is the current standard of care.
Laparotomy involves a large incision and abdominal wound which is associated with significant pain, wound infections and the complications associated with major surgery.
Laparoscopic techniques have proved feasible and safe with previous retrospective studies. In a number of retrospective and prospective, non-controlled series the incidence of treatment-related morbidities was less in patients who had a laparoscopic hysterectomy compared with patients who underwent an abdominal hysterectomy. This study will also assess disease-free survival at 4.5 years postoperatively amongst the group of patients who had a Total Laparoscopic (TLRH) versus those who had the Total Abdominal Radical Hysterectomy (TARH).
LEGS - Prospective Evaluation of Lymphoedema among Patients with Gynaecological Cancer
LEGS is the first study world wide to find out how many women develop swelling of the legs (in medical language called lymphoedema) after treatment for a gynaecological health issue. The LEGS study also hopes to shed light on risk factors why some women develop swelling and others don’t even if they have the same treatment.
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Centre for Gynaeoncological Cancer Research |
