For the past three years all proceeds from the event have gone on to support researchers at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to develop a tool to find and kill cancer cells in solid tumours.
The research, co-led by Dr Paul Beavis, delves into activating two different types of immune cells at the same time to boost the effects of immunotherapy to ultimately find and kill cancer cells in solid tumours.
“What we have done is taken people's immune cells into the lab and genetically engineered them to fight off cancer cells,” Dr Beavis said.
“When we combined the engineered T cells with drugs that further activate immune cells, we found that we could shrink tumours far more effectively.
“What was really exciting about this approach is that we were able to stimulate the body’s immune system to attack multiple targets on cancer cells, helping to overcome the issue of heterogeneity,” he said.
Mr Beavis was a guest speaker at the brunch in 2017 and 2018 and the function gave him and other researchers inspiration for their four-year study.
“The funding that has generated has been vital for me to build my research and research team,” Dr Beavis said.
“Sitting down and speaking with people who have been affected by cancer has been great for motivation and keeps us grounded as to why we do what we do,” he said.
The research paper was released last week and will be discussed with clinical colleagues which will hopefully advance into trials on cancer patients.
“I think fundraisers like this brunch are really important because the community can see where their money is going, while also really bringing it home to me and other researchers about why we are doing this work in the labs,” Dr Beavis said.
This year's Pink Ribbon Brunch was cancelled due to COVID-19.
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