Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced $5 million in funding to improve outcomes for children and adults with brain cancer through high-quality clinical trials.

The Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) and the Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO) will each receive $2.5 million to improve access and participation in local and international trials.

The funding will enable ANZCHOG to open five high-quality, international brain cancer clinical trials – with a target of 90% of eligible children with brain cancer enrolling in these trials.

COGNO will be supported to increase recruitment of Australia adults with brain cancer to international brain cancer clinical trials.

“It will dramatically enhance our ability to open international trials quickly and ensure that Australians with brain cancer have the opportunity to take part and potentially receive new treatments,” COGNO Chair Professor Anna Nowak told the limbic.

Minister Hunt said the goal was to double survival rates and improve the quality of life of people living with brain cancer over the next 10 years.

“We want to give Australians with brain cancer access to new treatments, whether they are discovered here or abroad, and this funding will be primarily dedicated to that goal.”