Introduction
Medicine is reliant on extensive research and trials to adopt and integrate relevant findings into clinical practice in order to progress, develop and improve patient care outcomes. Cancer is the second most significant cause of mortality and morbidity in Australia1. Improvements in cancer treatment are dependent on effective research in identifying the causes and biology of cancer, developing new drugs and techniques for treating cancer and developing methods to evaluate and quantify the individual’s response to treatment so that personalised medicine is enabled for the patient.
This section focuses on research and academia in the area of radiation oncology: clinical trials, discovery, translational research (see below), adoption of new technology into clinical practice (i.e. implementation research), and the constraints to research and development in Australia. Stakeholder consultation amongst members of the three professions sought comment on whether the institutions they were associated with participated in research or actively supported research, what the constraints were to conducting research and how research can be improved in Australia. The majority of the responses were concerned with the lack of collaboration and what respondents felt was inadequate support for research. The results of the stakeholder surveys and written submissions received are incorporated into the analysis below.