About Walk to Fight Cancer
What does it take to find cures for cancer? Dedication? Smarts? Perseverance? Technology? Our researchers here at Peter Mac have all that and more. But we can’t do this alone.
What would you give to bring hope to every person diagnosed with cancer and their loved ones? Your sweat, your determination, your passion?
Tens of thousands of our wonderful community of supporters have done just that over the last five years by taking part in our UNITE challenge events. They even turned out en masse when UNITE went virtual in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic – across not only Victoria but the rest of Australia too.
First in 2023, we celebrated the efforts of over 700 superhero cyclists who took on Ride to Fight Cancer and raised over $450k for cancer research. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who got on their bike for Peter Mac in April!
Then it was the turn of more than 2,700 wonderful walkers, who all stepped forward to Walk to Fight Cancer with us from 12-21 October. So far, they’ve managed to raise an impressive $739k – and still counting! Thank you so much to everyone who took part, along with the family members, friends and colleagues who sponsored them.
It’s not too late to sponsor someone and help push that total even higher!
UNITE in numbers
11.5K
Over 11,500 fantastic fundraisers have united to fight cancer with us since 2018.
$5.9M
Over $5.9 million has been raised to support life-saving cancer research at Peter Mac.
100K
Over 100,000 friends, family members and colleagues have supported our fundraisers by donating.
PREVENTING RESISTANCE TO THERAPY
The vital funds raised through events like Walk to Fight Cancer help enable our cancer researchers – such as Dr Lorey Smith – to continue their life-saving work into discovering new cancer cures.
After completing a PhD in cancer cell biology at the University of Melbourne, Dr Smith now works on melanoma and how this cancer becomes resistant to currently available therapies.
Dr Smith recently discovered that therapy-induced adaptation in melanoma cells involves changes in how melanoma cells process messenger RNA (mRNA), the molecules required to turn the information in DNA into a protein. These mRNA processing pathways give cells the flexibility required to rapidly adapt and survive stress, and when Dr Smith turned these pathways off, she was able to significantly delay the onset of drug resistance in experimental models of melanoma.
Based on these discoveries, Dr Smith is now focusing on how the mRNA processing network can be targeted therapeutically to prevent resistance and has secured an industry partnership to lead the development of a new drug.
Dr Smith’s important work could represent a significant improvement in success rates for the treatment of melanoma.
WALKING FOR MY MUM AND MY SISTER
“This is my way of doing my part to help Peter Mac so that they can keep up their amazing work.”
Cathy Menz, who lost both her mother and sister to cancer, took part in Walk to Fight Cancer for the second time this year. Cathy’s sister was a Peter Mac patient for over two years before she passed away.
“Every person she met was amazing, and her doctor and his team were incredible. It was like they only had her as a patient, with their level of care. They tried many options, including clinical trials, but unfortunately nothing worked in the end.
“I want to help Peter Mac continue with their amazing work, especially their research and trials so other families don’t have to experience what we have over the past few years.“
