“What is most exciting is the collaborative approach across the local health district, with multiple departments and disciplines working tirelessly together with a shared objective, to identify the best approach for patients with COVID-19.

We are conducting clinical trials in mild to moderate patients being managed in the community, moderate to severe patients in wards and severe patients in ICU. Our data collection will help us understand the impacts of COVID-19 on south west Sydney as a community and specific impacts on various groups of high-risk patients.

In addition to the COVID-19 clinical trials, we have over 500 clinical trials across south west Sydney in areas such as cancer, neurology, cardiology, immunology, rheumatology and intensive care. Some of our team were redeployed to essential services during the crisis, yet we have ensured our clinical trials were rigorously maintained to protect and propel this essential work.”

“I’ve always thought that it would be good to take a simple pill rather than an injection if your life has been turned upside down by cancer. We found that in laboratory trials that the compound “c2” not only shrinks tumours but can cause them to disappear completely. We are hopeful that c2 will be of benefit to patients with prostate cancer, and this initial clinical trial is an important step along this path to save lives.”

A/Prof Kieran Scott has successfully tested a compound known as c2, that he has been researching for the past 15 years, within the highly specialised Phase 1 Trials Unit at Liverpool Hospital.

The trial was tested on advanced prostate cancer patients, where standard therapy had failed.
Patients were split into four cohorts and given single capsules with different dosages of c2, to be taken while being closely monitored in the trials unit. Halfway through the trial, patients were given dosages of c2 to be taken at home daily for the remainder of the study. At the conclusion of the trial, patients did not record any serious adverse events.

Following this successful, initial trial, Prof Scott and the Clinical Trial team need supporters to invest in a bigger trial to determine what (higher) doses might be most effective in patients and to determine which patients would benefit the most.

“It is important we undertake clinical trials in the group of people we are trying to assist. People at the end of life deserve the best evidence to guide their care, specifically through clinical trials, to improve their treatments. You often have one chance to get it right and to do it really properly – it has such a huge effect on their lives and the lives of their loved ones.”

These clinical trials are evaluating if medicinal cannabis can improve the quality of life for adults with advanced cancer through improvement in appetite and appetite related symptoms. It will also evaluate its medicinal cannabis impact on other symptoms including fatigue, low mood, weight loss, nausea, insomnia and pain.

The trial consists of two stages and will play a critical role in helping to answer important questions about safety, effects, dosage and frequency and what the best delivery mode might be for palliative care patients exploring both vaporised and oral formulations. The medical cannabis clinical trial represents a significant leap forward in the evaluation of treatment options available to terminally ill cancer patients in Australia.