Radio Rare

Our CEO, Christine Cockburn, caught up with James Valentine recently on ABC Radio. They chatted about James’s own experience with cancer, Oesophageal Cancer Awareness Month, and the devastating inequities facing people diagnosed with rare or less common cancers. 

Rare Cancers Australia and Australian Genomics invite you to a policy roundtable series exploring the enablers and barriers to genomic-led cancer care for people diagnosed with rare, less common and complex cancers. Your valuable perspective will contribute to discussions and a report, with practical recommendations for accelerating equitable access to genomic-led cancer care in Australia. Hear fr...

Two-year-old Luna’s family is fundraising for treatments only available overseas for her rare childhood cancer, neuroblastoma. They sat down with Gary Hardgrave on the 4BC Radio Drive program to share their experiences.

People living with cancer urgently need action on expanded access to precision therapies Over the past two decades, our ability to rapidly obtain genomic information on an individual and their cancer has led to a dramatic shift in how we can diagnose, treat, monitor and prevent cancer, leading to an era of precision oncology. With this expanded knowledge of cancer there are several promising treat...

In this edition of The Conversation Hour, hosted by ABC Radio Melbourne, we hear the experiences of callers who have been diagnosed with a rare cancer and their families. We also learn about the latest developments in treatment and support with guests Professor Clare Scott who is a clinician scientist, leading the ovarian and rare cancer laboratory at WEHI and Danielle Spence from the Cancer Counc...

Noel Carmona, living with thymic carcinoma, and Rare Cancers Australia CEO Christine Cockburn, sat down with ABC Radio in the Upper Hunter to talk about the cost of treatment for people diagnosed with a rare cancer, and what needs to change to make things fair for rare.

Professor Grant McArthur Executive Director, VCCC Alliance Head of the Molecular Oncology Lab, Peter Mac Thinking big: how we can make a difference for patients In this episode, RCA Chief Executive Richard Vines speaks to Professor Grant McArthur about: · The challenges of personalising cancer treatment · How the moon landing sparked a career in medicine · Why he chose to specialise in cancer, and...

Emeritus Professor Ian Frazer University of Queensland The future of cancer and medical research In this episode, RCA Chief Executive Richard Vines speaks to Professor Ian Frazer about: Inventing the technology behind the world’s first cancer vaccine Vaccine hesitancy, and the potential of other vaccines for cancer What makes the Translational Research Institute so special The interface between cl...

Ann Single Patient Voice Initiative Improving the patient voice in the Australian health system In this episode, RCA Chief Executive Richard Vines speaks to Ann Single about: - The limitations of Australia’s Health Technology Assessment (HTA) process - How and why the HTA process needs to be framed from a patient perspective - Australia’s perception of ‘value’ as it applies to health versus other...

Professor John Zalcberg Head, Cancer Research Program, School of Public Health, Monash University   Our responsibility to patients who can’t afford to wait In this episode, RCA Chief Executive Richard Vines speaks to Professor John Zalcberg about: - How he was destinated to be in medicine since childhood - Why he chose to specialise in cancer care - The challenges around making clinical trial...

Carlo Montagner Co-Founder and CEO, Specialised Therapeutics Australia Risks and rewards: getting new medications into the hands of patients In this episode, RCA Chief Executive Richard Vines speaks to Carlo Montagner about:  His move from psychology to pharma Building a strong foundation in the industry Founding STA with his wife The barriers to, and costs of, supplying drugs in Australia Ho...

Professor Shelley Dolan Chief Executive, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre From Registered Nurse to Chief Executive In this episode, RCA Chief Executive Richard Vines speaks to Professor Shelley Dolan about: Signing up as a nurse dressed in full punk rock gear, complete with pink hair Her love of intensive care and why she moved to cancer care Moving up the ranks from nurse to CEO What she’s learned,...

In the latest episode of the Radio Rare podcast, Clinical Nurse Specialists Julie and Giovanna from Cancer Council Victoria share how the turbulence of the last 18 months has affected people living with cancer, and what patients are most concerned about at the moment.

In the latest episode of the Radio Rare podcast, we chat to Rupert Saunders from headspace for an insight into what many young people are feeling in the wake of 18 months of constant changes and challenges. He also provides some tips and strategies for people of all ages who may be struggling to deal with the ongoing uncertainty.

We are living in extraordinary times, and uncertainty drives us to seek answers. It's easy to get swept away in a sea of conflicting information. In the latest episode of Radio Rare in our COVID Connect mini-series, we go back to basics with Professor Rhonda Stuart from Monash Health. Drawing on her extensive career in public health, she explains how the COVID-19 virus operates, how the vaccines w...

The impact of COVID-19 on our healthcare system has and continues to be significant. In our latest episode of Radio Rare in our COVID Connect mini-series, we take you into the hospital world and explore the NSW and Victorian experiences through the lens of two experts - Oncologist at Royal North Shore Hospital, Prof Nick Pavlakis and Director of Prevention and Wellbeing at the Peter MacCallum Canc...

It was just before Melbourne's second lockdown (lasting 111 days) that Maddie was diagnosed with thymoma. In our first Radio Rare episode in our COVID Connect mini-series, she shares how she adjusted to her new normal - facing not just a cancer diagnosis, but the added uncertainty of a rare cancer diagnosis in a global pandemic.

When many people think of childhood cancers, images of babies and toddlers often appear. But what about teenagers living with a rare cancer? This is a very different picture, and one that is often overlooked as Tamlin explains in our latest episode of Radio Rare.

Even when you are a doctor, finding out your son has a rare cancer can be difficult to understand. In this special #RareCancersAwarenessDay edition of Radio Rare, our very own Dr Emily shares a very personal experience with her husband and oncologist by her side.

It's an exciting time in cancer care with advances in medicine allowing us to look more closely at each person's cancer, and to identify more effective treatments for each patient's case. In the latest episode of Radio Rare we explore this and what this means for patients with our very own Dr Amanda Ruth, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Rare Cancers Australia and Executive Director of the Nat...

Benchtop to bedside is a commonly used term when it comes to research. But what does it mean in the reality of cancer treatments, and what does it look like when it comes to developing new medicines for cancer patients? We explore this in our latest episode of Radio Rare featuring Dr Jay Perry, Associate Research Fellow at the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute.

In this weeks episode, we sit down and talk with Cindy Bakos and Cassandra Howcroft and explore why it's so important for children living with a cancer diagnosis to stay active, and how parents can make it fun, together. Cindy and Cass are two mums at the front of the exercise as medicine movement, with their organisation, Little Big Steps, making paediatric oncology wards just a little more activ...

Appearing this week on Episode 3 of Radio Rare: Exercise Physiologist, Tracey Duggan, who specialises in working with cancer patients on their treatment journey. Join us alongside Dr Emily as we explore how fitness helps lower your cancer fatigue, and how you can find the right place to get started today.

In episode one, we heard from Kate Vines on what life has been like living with a rare cancer. In episode two, we want to follow that with Dr. Damien Kee from the Austin Hospital and talk about what specifically makes rare and less common cancers so different from common types of cancer. So join us, as Dr. Kee takes us down the rabbit hole that is clinical research and study, available wherever yo...

Season two of Radio Rare is here and for episode one, we chat to Kate Vines, one of the founders of Rare Cancers Australia, talking about her life with a rare cancer and how technology has opened new treatment options. We also have a special guest, Dr Damien Kee, a medical oncologist based at the Austin hospital, to talk about rare cancers from a researchers perspective. So plug in your headphones...