11 day Great Wall of China trek.

In September 2017 I will be participating in an 11-day trek along the Great Wall of China to raise funds the Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA).

Every dollar raised through the Great Wall of China trek will go towards supporting the continual work of MIA, providing much needed funds for life-saving research. By taking part in this amazing adventure I will be raising vital funds to bring us ever closer to finding a cure for melanoma, a life threatening skin cancer.

MIA is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to preventing and curing melanoma through innovative, world-class research, treatment and education programs. MIA relies on the generosity of individuals, organisations and government funding to continue its groundbreaking work into Australia’s national cancer which is the most common cancer in young Australians aged 15–39 years.

“I am so excited to be doing the Great Wall of China Trek in aid of the Melanoma Institute Australia. This will be one of the toughest, yet most exhilarating challenges of my life. Knowing the money I raise will be used to continue the research that can save lives ­into melanoma cancer is the best part of all. ”

Thank you for your support :)

PS if you would like to learn more about the Melanoma Institute Australia please check out the link: http://www.melanoma.org.au

What will my impact be?
Melanoma is the most common cancer in 1539 year olds and the most common cause of cancer deaths in 20-39 year olds.

How your fundraising can change lives:
As a part of Melanoma Institute Australia Great Wall of China Trek you will join a group of inspiring individuals dedicated to helping MIA pioneer advances in melanoma research and treatment that are making a difference to the lives of patients today.

The NeoTrio Trial: prevent melanoma advancing
As the saying goes, ‘prevention is the best cure’, and MIA’s NeoTrio trial is all about that!

The standard treatment for patients who develop stage III melanoma (melanoma which has travelled to lymph nodes) is to have surgery to remove the affected and surrounding lymph nodes, known as a complete lymph node dissection.

Sadly, even after this procedure, there is a high likelihood of the melanoma returning and advancing to stage IV melanoma, meaning it has spread to distant organs around the body causing it to be highly life threatening.

New drugs have been trialled and shown to be effective to treat stage IV melanoma, but wouldn’t it be incredible if we could stop it advancing to this point in the first place?

The NeoTrio trial is an important clinical study that will test whether immunotherapy treatments currently used to treat stage IV patients could in fact prevent patients from developing advanced melanoma altogether.

On the trial, patients with stage III melanoma will receive immunotherapy or immunotherapy plus targeted therapy before and after their complete lymph node dissection to see if it will prevent stage IV melanoma from developing.

This will be revolutionary if it works.