Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australian men. Twenty thousand men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every day, and that means that today, while we're in this House, 54 men and their families will receive the news from their doctors and their specialists that they have prostate cancer. Approximately 3,000 Australian men die of prostate cancer every year. My father-in-law was one of those many, many men. They leave behind a space in their families, and it's something that we need to address. My husband and the rest of our family, having been through that journey with him, see the tremendous toll that prostate cancer has on its fighters and on the friends, the family and the healthcare workers.

For families who are fighting prostate cancer together, this time can be incredibly distressing and confusing. Addressing the unknown when lives are at stake can never be underestimated. For the children and grandchildren of men with prostate cancer, it is a time of uncertainty and confusion. But much is being done to support all people affected by prostate cancer. Liverpool Hospital's cancer therapy centre has long been a leading research and trial facility for Australians undergoing cancer treatment. In the last few years, Liverpool Hospital has led the trials into stereotactic radiation therapy, a technique that delivers targeted beams of radiation that attach to the cancer while keeping low the dose delivered to normal organs such as the bladder and the bowel.

The challenge of the need for new approaches to treatment is being met. These include the establishment last year of early-phase clinical trials at Liverpool Hospital, where new therapies can be offered to men when other treatments have failed. One such therapy, an oral medication called c2, was discovered in Sydney and developed at the Ingham Institute in Liverpool. It is being trialled in men with advanced prostate cancer, for the first time anywhere in the world, at the new Liverpool clinical trial centre in a trial sponsored by Western Sydney University. I'd like to pay special thanks to and acknowledge the work of Dr Kieran Scott, associate professor of oncology, and his team at the Western Sydney University and thank Mr Darryl Harkness, Chief Executive Officer of the Ingham Institute in Liverpool, for bringing this research to my attention. It is research and dedication like theirs, underpinned by institutions and with the support of the community, that is creating the advances that are necessary if we are to see the death rate from prostate cancer become a thing of the past.

While prostate cancer is a serious and potentially deadly health issue, early detection can mean a world of difference not only to surviving this terrible condition but to the treatment and options available to men with the condition. Technology has come so far these days that prostate cancer can be detected with a simple blood test, and, like all of the speakers today, I would encourage men over 50 to have that blood test.

Support for these fighters is vital, as it is with any life-threatening condition. Support groups, not just for the men who fight the disease but for their teams—the men, the women and the children—also need to be supported. They are often dealing with a current diagnosis of cancer or are survivors of cancer. These groups need to meet on a regular basis to be able to help each other, discuss their shared experience and learn more about their disease and how to manage it. Psychological support is crucial to their success in fighting and their ongoing wellbeing, as it is for all people suffering from cancer and for survivors of cancer. The current five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is 95 per cent. Regardless of the survival rate, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer by the age of 85. Their battle is no easier and shorter than it is for any other cancer.

I thank the member for Perth for this motion and congratulate his constituent, Mr David Dyke, on his continued advocacy and insights into his battle with prostate cancer. Men need to take their health seriously. Early diagnosis is crucial in improving the survival rate and increasing treatment options available to them. I support the motion moved by the member for Perth.

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