Dr Janet Rhodes is a surgical registrar trainee who has been awarded $50,000, thanks to the Hugh Green Foundation, to take time out of her clinical work to complete her PhD. Her supervisors are Professor John McCall and Dr Roslyn Kemp who are well known to GICI. Her words below describe the importance of her work.
"Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand. Some patients require surgery alone, while others need chemotherapy to complete treatment. It is not always clear which patients will require chemotherapy to optimise their chance of survival.
The Immunoscore is a recently developed tool that measures the patient’s immune response to cancer and helps to determine which patients may need additional therapies. My PhD will validate the use of the Immunoscore in New Zealand CRC. I will identify other aspects of the Immunoscore to improve its ability to predict outcomes for the patient".