Professor Finlay Macrae, Head of Colorectal Medicine and Genetics, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and flagship collaborator, addresses MPs.

The importance of linking health data was explored at CSIRO's third Science for Breakfast briefing for Parliamentarians in Canberra on 30 November 2005.

Focussing on the work of the Preventative Health Flagship, the briefing was one of a series hosted by The Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, then Minister for Education, Science and Training.

Federal parliamentarians were introduced to the Preventative Health Flagship's collaborative research into colorectal (bowel) cancer by Flagship Director Dr Richard Head.

Australia has one of the world’s highest incidence of colorectal cancer; around 90 Australians die each week from the disease. It is Australia’s second biggest cancer killer and a scourge around the world. Estimated spending on colorectal cancer in Australia rose 44 per cent ($72m) between 1993-4 and 2000-01 to $235m. 

The briefing included a presentation by Flagship partner Professor Finlay Macrae from the Department of Colorectal Medicine and Genetics at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. 

He presented findings from an ongoing collaborative Health Data Integration (HDI) project between the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the flagship through the e-Health Research Centre, a joint venture between the CSIRO and Queensland Health. 

The project involves the analysis of data which the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Department of Colorectal Medicine and Genetics has been collecting for the past 25 years on various aspects of colorectal cancer screening, testing and familial risk.

Using data collected from families with colorectal cancer over the past 25 years, the researchers were able to derive efficacy estimates for the faecal occult blood test (FOBT) as a diagnostic test for colorectal cancer in the broader population.  These results mirrored closely those obtained from other non-familial cancer data sets. They provide a clear demonstration that, with careful enquiry and analytical design, the HDI technology can greatly expand the utility of data sets to which it is applied.

"This research and development is vital for efforts to provide data for researchers to use, for clinical and health policy related research," Professor Macrae said.

Fellow presenter Professor Graeme Young, a Flagship Fellow from Flinders University, described how research of this type could be translated into preventative measures by screening and early detection of cancer and pre-cancer signs.

Up to 75 per cent of colorectal cancer could be prevented with dietary and lifestyle changes. Strategies for early diagnosis are also important as 88 per cent of people in the early stages of colorectal cancer are alive five years after diagnosis and treatment.

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