Research award to advance breast cancer treatments
10 September, 2024 
Valued at $20,000, the award will fund Dr Schreuder’s investigation into a new imaging technology designed to measure tumour cell death, with a specific focus on its application in breast cancer.
A leading cause of cancer-related deaths among Australian women, breast cancer claims over 3,200 lives in Australia each year.
Dr Schreuder’s study will evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative agent called Cell Death Indicator (CDI) that is used in combination with standard PET scans. This new imaging technique, known as CDI-PET, enables precise identification of dying and dead tumour cells. CDI-PET will be tested in mouse models of breast cancer to see how well it works in showing the effects of cancer treatments.
Dr Schreuder said the research addresses a significant challenge in diagnosing and monitoring breast cancer.
“Currently, imaging methods have a hard time distinguishing the difference between tumour cells and surrounding inflammation, especially after treatments like radiation or immunotherapy. This makes it tough to accurately assess how well the treatment is working and can introduce uncertainty about what to do next,” said Dr Schreuder.
“With CDI-PET, our goal is to give clinicians a much clearer picture of the tumour and the effectiveness of the treatments taking place. This clarity can help optimise and better personalise treatment plans for patients, allowing for quicker switches to alternative therapies when required or reducing unnecessary treatments,” he said.
Mr David Kenyon AM, Trustee of the Kenyon Foundation, underscored the importance of supporting such ground-breaking research.
“Breast cancer impacts countless lives in Australia every year. We are proud to support Dr Schreuder’s pioneering work, which holds the promise of driving positive change and improving outcomes in this vital area of healthcare,” said Mr Kenyon.
Dr Schreuder said that CDI-PET could potentially lead to more personalised and efficient treatments not only for breast cancer but for other types of cancer as well.
