Melanoma Institute Australia has been awarded a prestigious National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant to lead an international clinical trial aiming to safely reduce surgery for high risk Stage III melanoma patients who have had a good response to neoadjuvant immunotherapy.

Melanoma Institute Australia surgeon, Associate Professor Alex van Akkooi, worked closely with MIA Medical Director, Professor Georgina Long AO, and MIA Director of Clinical Care Maria Gonzalez, on the trial design and the NHMRC application.

‘This NHMRC grant will enable us to roll out this important and potentially practice-changing clinical trial in key melanoma treatment centres across the world,’ A/Prof van Akkooi said.

‘This trial is an example of Melanoma Institute Australia’s surgical and world-leading clinical trials teams working collaboratively to not only save lives, but also to improve quality of life,’ said MIA Medical Director Professor Georgina Long AO.

‘Our aim is to reduce surgical intervention and still provide patients and their families with pathological evidence that our ground-breaking drug therapy advances are extending their recurrence free survival,’ A/Prof van Akkooi said.