The Medical Oncology was established with the philosophy that new cancer treatments are essential if we are to make progress in delivering the best care to people with cancer. The aim of the unit is simple: to provide the very best care to cancer patients and to conduct high quality clinical cancer research in an integrated environment. The Joint Unit is where research and patient care meet.

A unique partnership between Austin Health and the Ludwig Institute For Cancer Research has been forged to achieve this. Austin is responsible for providing the very latest medical care and the Institute is responsible for providing clinical research opportunities.

At any one time the Oncology Unit conducts a substantial number of clinical trials with much of this effort being directed towards Institute studies, particularly in the field of cancer immunotherapy. Many of these are performed under the auspices of the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative (CVC). The CVC is an international collaborative effort involving scientists and physicians from around the world who have joined together under the banner of the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and Ludwig Institute.