Research into childhood brain cancer is getting a $20 million boost in a bid to find new treatments.
Brain cancers are the most common solid tumours in children and the most deadly, causing more deaths than all others combined despite the overall survival rate for childhood cancer being above 80 per cent.
Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is being targeted in the new research, with few effective treatments for the rare and highly aggressive childhood brain cancer.
Only one in 10 children survive for two years after diagnosis and less than one in 100 survive for five years.
Coming from the Medical Research Future Fund over seven years, the money will also be spent on a new national consortium for clinical trials.
The consortium will work with other countries and sectors to develop new research and better clinical care.
"Research is a key weapon in our unrelenting fight against DIPG and childhood brain cancer," Health Minister Mark Butler said.
"We need bold and innovative research approaches to find treatments and a cure for DIPG and childhood brain cancer. With Sunday marking World Cancer Day, the Red Cross and Cancer Council are calling on Australians to donate blood and plasma.
People living with cancer are the biggest users of donated blood in Australia and rely more heavily on blood than ever before, the organisations said.
A third of donated blood is used to treat cancer and blood diseases.
More than 10,000 blood donations are needed every week for people living with cancer and this is expected to jump by more than 70 per cent by 2040.
Almost half of Australians will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85.
