Cancer Research
The Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre (ACSRC) was founded by the Auckland Cancer Society in 1956, primarily to seek new drugs for cancer treatment.
Since 1998 the Centre has been jointly managed by the Auckland Cancer Society and the University of Auckland in order to broaden its scientific and academic base. This Centre is regarded internationally as one of the world's leading anti-cancer drug development laboratories.
Here is a brief overview of the history and structure of the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre
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The initial research effort sought drugs from NZ plants, but the focus soon moved to the rational design, synthesis and biological testing of new synthetic drugs.
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The ACSRC was one of the first drug discovery groups to recognize the potential of DNA as a target receptor in oncology.
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It was the first laboratory in the Southern Hemisphere to discover, develop, and bring an anti-cancer drug into clinical use - Amsacrine in 1982.
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Since then a further six drugs developed in the ACSRC have been brought to clinical trial, in NZ, Europe and the USA.
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Since its inception in 1956, Research Centre staff have published nearly 1,000 papers in international scientific and medical journals, and have filed 75 patent applications on new anti-cancer drugs. Seven anti-cancer drugs developed in the Centre have gone to clinical trial.
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Research Objectives
