Government gives brain cancer research $100 million boost

The Turnbull government is investing $100 million to fight brain cancer with the aim of doubling survival rates over the next ten years.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt will launch the Australian brain cancer mission when he visits the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) this morning.

Mr Hunt will tour the facility, meet researchers and speak to sufferers of the disease, along with their families.

He will be joined by mining billionaire Andrew Forrest and other representatives from the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, who have both contributed to funding the new research.

Each year about 1600 people in Australia are told they have brain cancer, with around 20 percent still alive five years after first being diagnosed.

The statistic has not changed in the past three decades.

The government’s bold research plan hopes to double the brain cancer survival rates by 2028.