Margaret is a current patient at Austin Health with cholangiocarcinoma.

28 June 2023

Dr Fiona Chionh has received a generous grant from the Austin Health Foundation to boost research, develop new treatments, and change the lives of those diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma.

Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) is a cancer known for having one of the highest mortality rates of all cancers, but by employing cutting-edge technology to analyse patient tumour samples, Dr Chionh’s project looks to develop new treatment strategies.

Thanks to this grant, Dr Chionh will begin her project titled ‘Discovery of novel drivers and therapeutic approaches for cholangiocarcinoma patients’.

“Most patients who are diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma have cancer that has already spread outside of the bile ducts. Curative surgery is not possible, and chemotherapy has only modest efficacy. This project addresses the urgent, and unmet need to develop new treatments for these patients.”

Dr Chionh’s team will test promising treatments in the laboratory and identify drugs that are suitable for development in clinical trials. They will also develop novel models that can be used to test new treatments and conduct a pilot study using tumour organoids (mini 3D organ-like structures grown from patients’ cholangiocarcinoma cells) to develop personalised treatments.

Dr Fiona Chionh is a Medical Oncologist with Austin Health.

The project will go a long way to helping people like Margaret - a current patient with Austin Health with cholangiocarcinoma.

“After I was first diagnosed with gallbladder cancer, I underwent a big operation at Austin Hospital. My gallbladder and part of my liver were removed,” Margaret reflects.

“When my cancer returned last year, it had already spread outside of my gallbladder to other organs. This meant that I could not have curative surgery. I’m now being cared for by the Medical Oncology team at Austin Hospital, where I am having treatment with chemotherapy and immunotherapy.“

As part of this new research program, strong collaborations between researchers across multiple Austin Health Departments will be fostered, including Surgery, Anatomical Pathology, Medical Oncology, and the Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute.

“Austin Hospital is renowned as a major academic tertiary referral centre for liver and bile duct surgery. We are fortunate to work in a centre with the multidisciplinary expertise, collaborations, and resources to establish a research program focused on discovering and developing new treatments for cholangiocarcinoma,” says Dr Chionh.

It will also facilitate the training of the next generation of cholangiocarcinoma researchers, helping Austin Health sustain its enduring research capability to help people like Margaret.

“I think back to many years ago, when we had even fewer treatment options than we have today,” says Margaret. “Patients got very sick from their cancer sooner. Without research into new treatments, we would not have progressed at all. I consider myself very lucky to be receiving this treatment today.”

“It’s very important to continue researching new treatments for cholangiocarcinoma. The work that Dr Chionh and her team are doing will be a tremendous help for patients like me in the future.”