September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and Lions across the country are encouraging Australians to join them in supporting the vital work of the Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation (ALCCRF). 

Since 2009, the Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation, with the help of Lions volunteers and their communities, has raised over $13 million to fund vital research into childhood cancer. 

“Over the past decade and a half, Lions has raised over $13 million to fund vital research into childhood cancer,” said Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation Chair Ron Skeen OAM. 

This includes the successful $4 million Lions project with Australia’s Garvan Institute, which mapped the genome of over 400 children with cancer, to advance research and to guide personalised treatment. 

“The past couple of years have been particularly exciting for us with some groundbreaking major research projects, including our current $4 million Lions Kids Cancer Genome Project with the Garvan Institute,” added Skeen. 

The Zero Childhood Cancer Program has now expanded, enabling all Australians aged 0 to 18 years with cancer, to benefit from life-changing DNA sequencing. 

In recent years, the Australian Childhood Cancer Research Foundation has also been supporting the vital work of the Telethon Kids Cancer Centre (formally known as the Telethon Kids Institute).  

Over $1.2 million worth of funding over the past 5 years has enabled the Telethon Kids Cancer Centre to continue its leading research into childhood cancer — particularly in the area of cancer immunotherapy, which focuses on supercharging the body’s natural defences to destroy cancer cells. An additional $375,000 will be provided to the institute over the next 3 years. 

“Childhood cancer is a silent pandemic. Every year in Australia, almost 1,000 kids are diagnosed with cancers, many of them aggressive, hard to treat and with a high risk of mortality,” said Skeen.  

“Although the survival rates have improved greatly for some cancers, others still take a heavy toll on our young people’s lives.” 

This support has not only fuelled groundbreaking research but has also helped secure one of Western Australia’s biggest-ever philanthropic donations.  

The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation will contribute a transformative $135.5 million over the next decade to advance the Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation’s mission of improving outcomes for children with cancer. This significant funding will build on the vital work being undertaken at the Cancer Centre and Perth Children’s Hospital. 

“The support of the Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation has also been instrumental in the incredible work of the Telethon Kids Cancer Centre, particularly in the area of cancer immunotherapy.”  

“This funding is truly changing and saving lives, and we ask Australians to join us in ensuring more vital work continues in childhood cancer research,” added Skeen.