The remarkable personal story behind a breakthrough in the treatment of cancer is revealed on Australian Story this week.

Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid and Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt were scientists working on a disease in sheep at the CSIRO in the early 1990s when one of their colleagues was diagnosed with lung cancer.

The day before he died, the colleague urged them to start working on a cure for cancer. They began researching that very night, and initially focused on plant extracts which might have an effect on cancer cells.

A few years later, their boss at the CSIRO, Sir Malcolm McIntosh announced that he had terminal kidney cancer. They began treating him with the plant extracts, and were so encouraged by the results, they decided to leave the CSIRO to set up their own company.

Eventually they developed a new idea to deliver anti-cancer drugs to the body in a way that avoids the need for chemotherapy. The technique targets the cancer with a nano-cell called an ‘EDV’ or Engeneic Delivery Vehicle.

Since being written up in the international medical journal Cancer Cell, the breakthrough has generated enormous interest among scientists working in this field.

The EDV has been successfully tested on animals, and human trials are expected to begin later this year.

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