Cancer

Facts and figures

  • 200+ dedicated cancer researchers

  • 600+ cancer clinical trials recruiting now across our network

  • 17 cancer clinical registries

  • 57% of Victoria's cancer clinical trials are in partnership with Monash University

World-class cancer research and clinical care

Monash University is at the forefront of cancer research, powered by a community of over 200 leading scientists and clinician-researchers driving fundamental, translational, and clinical breakthroughs. Spanning multiple institutes and clinical schools, our teams are advancing discoveries and treatments to reduce the global burden of cancer.

Our multidisciplinary research scientists tackle the toughest challenges in oncology - investigating melanoma, brain, prostate, and breast cancer, as well as blood and rare malignancies. Their expertise spans cancer cell biology, proteomics, genomics, immunology, bioinformatics, and AI-driven technologies, enabling innovations from bench to bedside.

Monash clinician-researchers work hand-in-hand with affiliated health services to deliver cancer care across Melbourne, regional Victoria, and beyond - reaching over 4 million Australians. We are involved in more than 600 active clinical trials, accelerating the translation of new therapies to patients.

We also lead cancer education, training the next generation of clinician-researchers and scientific innovators in medical, nursing, radiation, surgical oncology, and cancer sciences.

Our impact extends through 17 cancer clinical quality registries, advanced biobanks, and integrated data systems that link clinical, pathological, and genomic information to treatment outcomes.

Monash researchers have founded and continue to lead key national cancer cooperative clinical trials groups, including The Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group (ANZUP) and Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials (MASC). These organisations collaborate with institutions across Australia, New Zealand, and globally to conduct large-scale trials, train researchers, and shape national and international cancer care guidelines.

Interested to find out more about our cancer research?

Click through and explore our areas of research below

Latest snapshot

Our impact in action

Agents of Change - A/Professor Renea Taylor

With cutting-edge medical engineering offering new approaches to managing and treating prostate cancer, Associate Professor Renea Taylor is paving the way for the development for better-targeted treatments for prostate cancer

Monash Research Champion - Associate Professor David Curtis

Meet Associate Professor David Curtis; blood cancers and stem cells researcher and Head of the Division of Blood Cancer Research of the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases.

Agents of Change - A/Professor Helen Abud and A/Professor Paul McMurrick

With cutting-edge medical engineering offering new approaches to managing and treating disease, Monash researchers are paving the way for the development of better-targeted cancer drugs by growing replica organs outside of the body.

Monash Research Champions - Brooke Pereira and Professor Gail Risbridger

Meet graduate researcher Brooke Pereira and her supervisor, Professor Gail Risbridger from the Prostate Cancer Research Group, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute.

Mohammad Alanazi - PhD student

Meet Mohammad Alanazi, a PhD student from Saudi Arabia. Mohammad is currently completing his PhD at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, and researching targetted therapies for lung cancer.

Monash Research Champion - Dr Andrew Wei

Meet Dr Andrew Wei: cancer researcher, haematologist and clinical trial specialist at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University and Alfred Health.

Cancer news

Lower prostate cancer survival among culturally and linguistically diverse Victorians

Victorians with CALD backgrounds have lower prostate cancer survival than Australian-born individuals, a study has found.
3 June, 2026 Research

Monash researcher among global experts uncovering hidden proteins that could impact disease and cancer treatment

An international consortium of scientists has published a groundbreaking study in the journal Nature, revealing a ‘consensus landscape’ of the human microproteome and identifying thousands of previously hidden microproteins.
21 May, 2026 Clinical Sciences - Monash Health

Monash University and partners boost south-east Melbourne’s launchpad for cancer research and clinical trials

Monash University and The Alfred today announce the launch of The Australian Cancer Research Foundation Centre for Dynamic Immuno-Oncology (CDIO) to tackle major challenges in cancer immunotherapy by better understanding how a patient’s immune
30 April, 2026 Translational Medicine

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