The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, also known as the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute and commonly abbreviated as Peter Mac, is an Australian
oncology research institute
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
,
cancer treatment
Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy (including immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibody therapy) and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments (e.g. ...
and professional
oncologist
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...
training centre located in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. The centre is named in honour of Sir
Peter MacCallum
Sir Peter MacCallum (14 July 1885 – 4 March 1974) was a Scottish-born Australian oncologist and the co-founder and eponym of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.
Background and early life
Peter MacCallum was born in Glasgow, ...
.
Since June 2016, the centre has been located within the
Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre
The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) is a multi-site, multi-disciplinary specialist cancer hospital and research centre located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The VCCC comprises an alliance between The University of Melbourne, the ...
(VCCC) in .
The centre is Australia's first
public hospital
A public hospital, or government hospital, is a hospital which is government owned and is fully funded by the government and operates solely off the money that is collected from taxpayers to fund healthcare initiatives. In some countries, this typ ...
dedicated to cancer treatment, research and education.
Research programs at the centre include the
Australian Cancer Research Foundation
The Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) is an Australian not-for-profit organisation which funds research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all types of cancer. It provides multimillion-dollar grants for high-end research equ ...
(ACRF) Cancer Cell Biology Program
and the ACRF Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics in Cancer.
History
In 1949 the Victorian Cancer Institute was established and the following year its outpatient services were named the "Peter MacCallum Clinic".
It was named after the (then) dean of the
Faculty of Medicine at Melbourne University, Peter MacCallum who, with
Rutherford Kaye-Scott, had a significant role in its founding.
At the time it was a common practice not to inform patients that they had cancer. It was thought that because radiotherapy was also quite commonly used at that time to treat non-cancerous conditions such as
severe acne, "
strawberry birthmarks",
frozen shoulder
Adhesive capsulitis, also known as frozen shoulder, is a condition associated with shoulder pain and stiffness. It is a common shoulder ailment that is marked by pain and a loss of range of motion, particularly in external rotation. There is a ...
s,
keloid scars
Keloid, also known as keloid disorder and keloidal scar,
is the formation of a type of scar which, depending on its maturity, is composed mainly of either type III (early) or type I (late) collagen. It is a result of an overgrowth of granulation t ...
and also to provide a valuable and non-invasive means for medical
sterilisation, the name "Peter MacCallum Clinic" was considered less threatening because the clinic could be
positioned as a specialist radiotherapeutic centre rather than it being thought of as a dedicated cancer hospital.
The clinic was originally located in a single room of the
Queen Victoria Hospital
The Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH), located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world-fam ...
in central Melbourne.
Its main facility was based at the corner
William Street and
Little Lonsdale Street
Little Lonsdale Street is located in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. A part of the Hoddle Grid, it runs roughly east–west. North of Lonsdale Street and south of La Trobe Street, Little Lonsdale Street's eastern end intersect ...
, near
Flagstaff Gardens
Flagstaff Gardens is the oldest park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, first established in 1862. Today it is one of the most visited and widely used parks in the city by residents, nearby office workers and tourists. The gardens are notable fo ...
where the
County Court of Victoria
The County Court of Victoria is the intermediate court in the Australian state of Victoria. It is equivalent to district courts in the other states.
The County Court is the principal trial court in the state, having a broad criminal and civi ...
buildings were later built. (The site was also at one time home to the
Jessie McPherson Private Hospital.) The Institute established Australia's first training school for radiotherapists.
In 1986, the institute (and the clinic) were collectively renamed as the "Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute".
By 1994, the institute was operating out of 11 sites across Melbourne. At this time, it moved into St Andrew's Hospital in , having been purchased from the
Uniting Church of Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of ...
and
Presbyterian Church of Victoria
The Presbyterian Church of Victoria is one of the constituent churches of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. It was established in 1859 as a union of Church of Scotland, Free Presbyterian and United Presbyterian congregations.
The Presbyter ...
by the state government in 1990.
Location
In June 2016, the institute moved to the purpose-built building at the entrance to Melbourne's
Parkville bio-medical precinct,
[ located at 305 Grattan Street, Melbourne, with satellite services at the ]Bendigo Base Hospital
Bendigo Base Hospital is the major hospital of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. It is operated by Bendigo Health Care Group (commonly known as Bendigo Health). The hospital is the largest regional hospital in Victoria and one of the largest public ho ...
, Epworth Eastern
Epworth HealthCare is a provider of acute medical, surgical and rehabilitation services in Melbourne, Australia. The group has four divisions: Epworth Richmond, Epworth Eastern, Epworth Cliveden, Epworth Freemasons and Epworth Geelong Epw ...
, the Monash Medical Centre
Monash Medical Centre (MMC) is a teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia. It provides specialist tertiary-level healthcare to the Melbourne's south-east.
Monash Medical Centre is part of Monash Health, the largest public health service in Vic ...
(Moorabbin
Moorabbin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Moorabbin recorded a population of 6,287 at the .
Most of the ea ...
campus in East Bentleigh) and Sunshine Hospital in St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
. It involves some shared services with the nearby Royal Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), located in Parkville, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, is one of Australia's leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research. Th ...
, the Royal Women's Hospital
The Royal Women's Hospital, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville, is Australia's oldest specialist women's hospital. It offers a full range of services in maternity, gynaecology, neonatal care, women's cancers and women's health. It also ...
and the Royal Children's Hospital
The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
As a major specialist paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital provides a full range of clinical services, tertiary care, as well ...
. Its current site was previously home to the Royal Dental Hospital
The Royal Dental Hospital was a dental hospital in Leicester Square, London, which operated from 1858 until 1985. In 1859, it opened the London School of Dental Surgery, later renamed to the Royal Dental Hospital of London School of Dental Surge ...
.
Notable staff
* Wendy Harris
*Sarah-Jane Dawson
Sarah-Jane Dawson is an Australian clinician-scientist. She is a consultant medical oncologist and head of the Molecular Biomarkers and Translational Genomics Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Her current research i ...
* Upulie Divisekera
* Declan G. Murphy
See also
*Health in Australia
Australia is a high income country, and this is reflected in the good status of health of the population overall. In 2011, Australia ranked 2nd on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index, indicating the level of develo ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter Maccallum Cancer Centre
1949 establishments in Australia
Cancer hospitals
Cancer in Australia
Hospitals established in 1949
Hospitals in Melbourne
Medical research institutes in Melbourne