NSW joins Joe Biden's cancer crusade

NSW has joined US Vice President Joe Biden in his "personal" crusade against cancer.

Mr Biden, whose son Beau was killed by brain cancer last year, is in Australia on a sweeping three-day mission to support the global fight against the disease.

At a meeting with Mr Biden, NSW Premier Mike Baird pledged $6 million for NSW cancer researchers at the Garvan Institute and Children's Medical Research Institute, both based in Sydney.

The funding comes alongside an agreement linking NSW and American research efforts - part of the vice president's push for greater global co-operation in the fight against the disease.

Mr Biden praised Australian researchers while opening the largest cancer research centre in the southern hemisphere in Melbourne on Monday.

"You are making cancer search a team sport," he said.

The vice president said his personal experience taught him the importance of any time gained while fighting the disease.

"You learn that a day makes a difference," he said.

"You learn that people who know they have no chance are just saying to their clinicians, 'can you just give me one more month so I can give my daughter away at her wedding?'.

"It's personal. It's minutes, it's hours, it's days, it's months."

Beau's daughter Natalie and two of her cousins are travelling with their grandfather on his Australian mission.

The NSW government said it hopes to see more breakthroughs in early detection and treatment as a result of the agreement.

"Through co-operation and high-quality research it is hoped we will discover new anti-cancer agents and be able to detect many cancers earlier, including childhood cancers," Health Minister Jillian Skinner said in a statement.

Mr Biden is continuing to meet with officials including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition leader Bill Shorten in Sydney on Tuesday.