Breakthroughs and Hope at NANOS 2025

Annual Neuro-Oncology Conference in Christchurch Highlights Progress and Partnership

Delegates at the 3rd Annual Conference of the NZ Aotearoa Neuro-Oncology Society (NANOS) in Christchurch

NANOS organising committee (L to R): Prof Gabi Dachs, Dr Melissa James, Dr Kate Gardner, Dr Catherine Han, Dr Anna Arns, Dr Thomas Park

Christchurch, New Zealand – 18 May 2025
The 2025 New Zealand Aotearoa Neuro-Oncology Society (NANOS) Annual Conference convened over two energising days, 17–18 May, in Christchurch, bringing together leading clinicians, researchers, patients, caregivers, and advocates from across Aotearoa and beyond. With 30 presentations and two major keynote addresses, the event proved to be another step forward for New Zealand’s growing neuro-oncology community.

Immediately following the NANOS conference, Brain Tumour Support NZ held its 2025 Patient and Caregiver Meeting at the same venue, the University of Otago, Christchurch campus, at Christchurch Hospital.

NANOS is one time when New Zealand’s brain tumour clinicians, researchers and patient advocates can come together to share knowledge, updates and experiences. Like the two previous NANOS meetings, this conference emphasised collaboration, compassion, and cutting-edge science.

Patients in Focus

The programme began with a Patient Focus session which included a presentation by Māori kaitiaki, Theona Ireton, and an update on the advocacy work of Brain Tumour Support NZ, presented by charity chair Chris Tse. Chris’s presentation titled “Patient to Planet” described how Brain Tumour Support NZ’s advocacy work operated on various levels, from the personal level providing support to individual patients, to national advocacy for better access to treatments and health policies, and internationally through global awareness-raising campaigns.

L to R: Anna Kerr, Henri Kerr, Chris Tse

Hearing the voices of patients and caregivers always creates a powerful impact at NANOS. In a heartfelt session, Henri Kerr and Caleb Jackson shared their lived experiences dealing with a brain tumour. Henri’s wife Anna and Caleb’s mum, Alice, provided the caregiver perspective. Their testimonies underscored the importance of patient inclusion - "nothing about us, without us."

A standout theme was the urgent need for a national brain tumour registry. Presenters Holly Wilson, Dr Catherine Han, and Dr Thomas Park highlighted the current data gaps, especially for benign tumours and Māori and Pasifika populations. A proposed pilot in Auckland, aligned with the Cancer Control Agency’s CanShare program, aims to change this.

The afternoon session began with several quickfire scientific presentations from some of New Zealand’s top brain tumour researchers. From the lab to the clinic, research updates were both hopeful and honest. Dr Dorothy Lombe of Palmerston North presented interim data on a glioblastoma trial using a cocktail of repurposed drugs targeting the Renin-Angiotensin System. Early results from 21 enrolled patients showed that tumour progression remains a significant challenge, causing 9 patients to discontinue treatment.

Another major advance came from Auckland City Hospital, where methylation profiling—previously sent overseas at high cost—is now available locally. Dr Clinton Turner reported faster, more affordable diagnostics, which could significantly improve treatment timelines and accuracy.

Keynote Addresses

Dr Craig Gedye

Two keynote speakers captivated attendees. Dr Craig Gedye from Adelaide challenged current clinical trial paradigms, offering innovative solutions for more efficient and effective clinical trials in brain cancer, while Professor Bryan Day from Brisbane introduced revolutionary antibody drug conjugate therapies targeting glioblastoma and medulloblastoma. His message was clear: the future of brain tumour treatment is already unfolding.

The conference also featured innovative intersections of medicine and art, including a session on “graphic medicine,” showcasing comics as tools for storytelling and healing, presented by Professor Neal Curtis.

Adding a splash of colour to proceedings, a Brainy Beanies pop-up stall proved popular with delegates keen to support Brain Tumour Support NZ’s signature fundraising and awareness-raising campaign. The stall was a prelude to the week long Brainy Beanies Christchurch exhibition which ran the following week at the Pūmanawa Community Gallery in the Arts Centre.

As the NANOS community looks ahead to hosting the Asian Society of Neuro-Oncology conference in Auckland in 2028, the Christchurch gathering affirmed that New Zealand is a growing participant in the global neuro-oncology conversation.

Alice and Caleb Jackson with Chris Tse

BTSNZ Patient and Caregiver Meeting

The second ever BTSNZ Patient and Caregiver meeting, and the first to be held in Christchurch, was held immediately after the NANOS conference with around 60 people attending. Following a shared afternoon tea, BTSNZ Sarah Verran opened the meeting with a brief introduction to the charity and its work. BTSNZ chair Chris Tse then gave a summary of the NANOS conference, choosing to highlight the presentations of most interest to patients and giving his takeaway points for each. His talk was presented from a caregiver’s perspective and his take home message that research represented ‘hope’ resonated with many in the audience.

Dr Craig Gedye gave a presentation “Clinical trials can be for everyone” which was an adaptation of his NANOS keynote address specifically tailored towards patients. He shared a story of hope from his time as a young medical oncologist in Toronto where he placed a patient with advanced melanoma on a clinical trial for an experimental drug called MK-3475. This young woman had exhausted all standard treatment options and neither she nor Dr Gedye knew how she would respond to the new drug. She turned out to experience a complete response and a full remission of her cancer, and Dr Gedye said being a clinician on that trial was a once in a life time experience. The drug MK-3475 was later renamed as “Keytruda” and is one of the biggest selling cancer drugs in the world today.

However, Dr Gedye warned that the majority of clinical trials do not produce such spectacular results and that patients need to better understand what clinical trials can and can’t do. He offered ways in which researchers here can run better clinical trials, including focusing on research priorities that matter to patients, communicating their trials more effectively, collaborating with patients and designing simpler trials.

In the final session, Dr Gedye was joined by radiation oncologist Melissa James, neurosurgeon Simon John and clinical nurse specialist Michaela Jamieson on a panel of experts to field questions from the audience.

L to R: BTSNZ chief executive Sarah Verran, Dr Slavka Kudrnova, Rebecca Lissiman

Brain Tumour Support NZ would like to thank Merck, Sharp and Dohme New Zealand Limited for sponsoring the 2025 Patient and Caregiver Meeting.