Investment In Clinical Trials Will Aid Long-Distance Melanoma Patients

Clinical trials will soon be available for patients at the Riverina Care Centre, ensuring melanoma treatment can occur closer to home. 

A ten-hour road trip to Sydney aims to be avoided for local patients, as the Melanoma Institute Australia will allow top-tier medical treatment to be administered out of Wagga.

The trials will be run out of the Riverina Care Centre, clinical trials manager Maria Gonzalez said the region will widely benefit after a new bill was passed.

"It already has a really great infrastructure available that we were able to tap into, and of course this is a tangible benefit of the recent merger with Amie St Clair Melanoma," Gonzales said.

The immunotherapy therapy will be based out of Wagga in the heart of the Riverina region, Ms Gonzalez said it's the ideal location for the trial roll-out.

"Travelling to Sydney every three to four weeks is just not possible for many patients, this clinical trial undertaking will save patients the 10-hour round trip, to allow them to remain in their homes for the duration of the the treatment."

In a statement from the Melanoma Institute Australia explaining the need to exercise the therapy, clinic trials "provide patients with access to unavailable new treatments and are also the vital step in making discoveries that will enable us to find a cure for melanoma".

Impacting more than one region, a $74 million investment into Australian clinical trials has been granted by health ministers, aiming to standardise diagnosis of the skin condition - sourcing better ways to prevent, detect and treat disease.

The government investment will support 20 clinical trials and 10 cohort studies for up to five years, aiding knowledge and testing effectiveness of treatment.

Melanoma is a serious skin cancer in Australia, commonly infecting those aged 15 - 39. 

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