Our goal is to improve cancer treatment. The Bill Walsh Cancer Research Laboratories is a research facility with considerable expertise in:

• cellular biology
• molecular biology
• biochemistry
• neurotoxicity
• translational research

We have a strong postgraduate research program associated with both the University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney. The research activities are focused on four ways of improving cancer treatment:

• Circumventing drug and radiation resistance of cancers
• Reducing the unwanted side effects of chemotherapy
• Disrupting the cancer's blood supply
• Translational Research

Over 50% of all cancer is cured by various combinations of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Our research programs are aimed at improving cancer treatment for the rest.

The Drug and Radiation Resistance Program – is aimed at understanding how cancer cells respond to treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs and radiotherapy and become resistant to these treatments. This understanding is essential to the development of new treatment strategies to circumvent resistance.

The Neuropathy Prevention Program - is aimed at reducing the unwanted side effects of some cancer treatments. Some of the best anti-cancer drugs also damage nerve cells (causing neuropathy) and this limits the effectiveness of the cancer treatment. This program has shown that the food additive, monosodium glutamate (MSG) protects nerve cells but not cancer cells from these chemotherapeutic drugs.

The Endothelial Cell Program - is aimed at understanding the role of endothelial cells in cancer biology. Endothelial cells fit together to form blood vessels. For cancers to continue to grow they require a functional blood supply. Cancers release substances which cause the endothelial cells to grow and form a blood supply to the cancer. Understanding how endothelial cells grow and how they function in cancers will provide targets for new treatments.

The Translational Research Program - is the interface between laboratory research and the treatment of cancer. It promotes the fast-tracking of new treatment strategies into clinical practice.