Australian cancer detection breakthrough shortlisted for prestigious global healthcare prize

Australian medical innovation is taking on the world, with three homegrown organisations shortlisted for one of healthcare’s most prestigious prizes.

But industry leaders are warning that without greater investment, our best breakthroughs could be lost overseas.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Australian cancer detection breakthrough risks offshore loss

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For breast cancer surgeons, what they can’t see can be critical. Even after surgery, cancer can be left behind.

“Up to 30 per cent of women will have cancer remaining inside after the initial surgery is complete,” OncoRes Medicals’ Dr Katharine Giles said.

Now Australian technology is trying to change that.

Perth-based OncoRes has developed a world-first imaging system helping surgeons find cancer they may have missed.

“The surgeon will be able to use our probe inside the surgical cavity during surgery to identify cancer that’s been missed and remove all of it the first time,” Giles said.

OncoRes Medicals’ Dr Katharine Giles. Credit: 7NEWS

Currently in clinical trials, OncoRes is one of three Australian organisations shortlisted for an international award dubbed the Nobel Prize of Life Sciences.

“It really shows that we can create, invent, develop commercialised technologies that are world-class and game-changing for patients on a global scale,” AndHealth Bronwyn Le Grice said.

The world-first imaging system. Credit: 7NEWS

The challenge now is keeping Australian breakthroughs here, with warnings more investment is needed to stop our talent heading overseas.

“We would have had to have moved offshore had it not been for the support that we’ve received from the federal government and local investment,” Giles said.

And what’s at stake isn’t just jobs.

“We also risk the lives of Australian patients and how quickly they can access the best and most effective treatments,” Le Grice said.