Apache Energy has signed a two-year $300,000 partnership with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research to fund research into a rare and aggressive form of cancer tumour.
The HUT midline carcinoma affects both children and adults, and is almost invariably fatal.
Very little is known abut the pathology of NUT midline carcinomas which mainly affect the thorax and nose.
The partnership between Apache Energy and the Telethon Institute was formally signed off this morning.
The partnership is based on a model established by Apache Corporation in the USA with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the Texas Medical Center in Houston.
Apache Energy managing director Thomas Maher said, "Apache is pleased to develop this partnership in Perth and build upon the Perth-Houston relationship of business and health excellence."
Professor Ursula Kees, the head of the Institute's cancer research program, said the fellowship would add great value to the group.
The cancers studied by Professor Kees and her team include leukaemia, brain tumours and carcinoma in children and focus on why some children relapse or respond poorly to therapy.
The team also investigates the underlying mechanisms in the development of paediatric brain tumours and ways to reduce their devastating impact.
"The particular carcinoma that we are investigating has an extremely low survival rate and is usually fatal within one year from diagnosis. International collaborations such as this are critical because of the rarity of this cancer," she said.
