Meet Dr Marion Mateos

"There was no paediatric oncology representation. I thought we definitely needed a seat at this table."

Dr Marion Mateos

When paediatric oncologist Dr Marion Mateos sits down with a family whose child has been diagnosed with brain cancer, she knows the conversation that follows can be one of the hardest they will ever have.

Some children will be facing treatments that can have significant and lasting side effects. For other families, the news is more devastating.

“It’s heartbreaking to have to tell a family that their child is going to pass away and that there’s no treatment,” she says.

These are the realities of brain cancer, which kills more children in Australia than any other disease.

For Marion, one of the biggest drivers was the lack of progress she saw for children with brain cancer.

“There’s been hardly any progress in 40 years. I thought, ‘We’ve absolutely got to research this. We’ve got to provide better, less toxic treatments and, in some instances where there are no treatments, develop new ones.’”

Marion joined Brain Cancer Australia’s National Consortium Steering Committee after being nominated several years ago.

At the time, she saw an important gap.

“There was no paediatric oncology representation. I thought we definitely needed a seat at this table.”

Marion believes there is significant value in bringing the paediatric and adult brain cancer communities together.

“We tend to be siloed,” she says.

Some brain tumour types occur across both children and adults, and Marion says researchers and clinicians can learn from advances made in each setting.

“There are often learnings both ways.”

Marion also believes the shared national infrastructure Brain Cancer Australia is developing can make collaboration easier.

“Establishing registries, biobanks and other research systems takes significant time, funding and ethics approval, so researchers should make the best possible use of infrastructure that already exists.”

“Once there is a mechanism in place, it is really helpful to look at ways to collaborate through that.”

Marion holds clinical and research appointments at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, Children’s Cancer Institute and UNSW. Her work is now part of the Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre which integrates research, clinical care and teaching. Marion collaborates with colleagues nationally through the Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology/Oncology Group and internationally.

Read more about Marion’s impact in paediatric brain cancer research and care.