Get involved and help Queenslanders living with cancer by volunteering. Volunteers are the heart of our organisation. Join us to make a greater impact and connect with like-minded people.
Every contribution helps support those living with cancer. Whether a one-off donation or monthly gift, your support ensures funding stability for long-term goals and future generations.
Leave a legacy by including a gift in your Will, starting a tribute page for a loved one, or funding a research grant for early-career cancer researchers driving clinical innovations.
Organise a fundraising event in your community, either as a team or an individual. You can join one of our existing fundraising events or you might like to come up with your own way.
When organisations work together, we can have a greater impact for every Queenslander going through cancer and help amplify our message for all Australians.
However you get involved, you’re making a direct impact on the lives of Queenslanders affected by cancer. See the results of what we’ve all achieved.
Your generous donations help us fund the brightest minds in cancer research.
Brain cancer remains one of the most devastating diagnoses a patient can receive. Despite decades of medical advances, survival rates have remained stubbornly unchanged with few patients surviving more than 14-months from diagnosis.
Cancer Council Queensland Next Generation Research Fellow Dr Taskeen Janjua Khan is developing innovative nanotechnology that could mean a fundamental shift in how we treat brain cancer.
Understanding the research
Dr Janjua Khan is pioneering the development of ultra-small nanoparticles specifically designed to overcome the biggest obstacle in brain cancer treatment: the blood-brain barrier. This protective shield prevents harmful substances from entering the brain, but when it comes to brain cancer treatment, it also acts as a blocker, preventing the vast majority of cancer-fighting drugs from reaching glioblastoma tumours.
“Brain cancer is very tricky to treat,” Dr Janjua Khan explains. “That survival rate hasn’t improved in the last 20 to 30 years.”
Current chemotherapy treatments face a critical inefficiency problem, in that only 20 percent of the drug actually reaches the cancer cells. The remaining 80 percent never reaches the tumour, instead circulating throughout the body, which can lead to devastating side effects, such as hair loss, nausea, nails falling off, and gastrointestinal problems.
Dr Janjua Khan’s research focuses on engineering nanoparticles that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, so more of the chemotherapy can be delivered to the glioblastoma tumour cells.
What this research means for Queenslanders
Brain cancer affects approximately 300 Queenslanders each year, with glioblastoma accounting for the majority of cases. Dr Janjua Khan’s nanoparticles technology could revolutionise treatment in two significant ways:
“If we could target it better, so that it can go directly into the tumour, one, we will need to use less of the cancer dose. And secondly, it would improve the therapy,” she says.
If the intended target—the cancer—can be reached by more of the treatment, patients could receive lower doses of chemotherapy while achieving better therapeutic outcomes. This means potentially more effective cancer treatment with dramatically reduced side effects, which could be a game-changing improvement in quality of life during treatment.
The researcher’s journey
Dr Taskeen Janjua Khan didn’t plan on a career as a researcher. She trained as a pharmacist and took on a research project out of curiosity. Then two family members were diagnosed with cancer. One was her three-year-old cousin.
An opportunity to work on brain cancer at The University of Queensland followed, and Taskeen stayed.
“There are a lot of challenges for early career researchers, and one of the main ones is funding,” she explains.
“This sort of programs actually help us bridge the gap between going to the next level and continuing our research. I wouldn’t have been able to continue my research without it.”
The rewarding aspects of her role
The opportunity to pursue research that could one day change the outcomes for brain cancer patients entirely may have started as purely personal, but now it represents the possibility for an enormous scientific achievement.
Knowing that the ultra-small nanoparticles she works with every day could hold the key to transforming how we treat brain cancer, Dr Janjua Khan is working towards patient trials. Now testing her nanoparticles in advanced models, she’s getting closer to this goal every day.
By bridging the gap between nanotechnology and oncology, her research has the potential to reshape how we treat brain cancer, and improve survival rates that have remained stagnant for decades.
Learn more
