Cancer doctor: My changing relationship with the disease

Dr Vittorio Orazio has a very personal relationship with cancer.

After losing his grandmother to the illness - and later surviving it himself - he decided he needed to do something to bring comfort to people suffering from the disease.

Dr Vittorio moved from Italy to Australia earlier in 2013 to further his research at the Children's Cancer Research Institute Australia, based at the University of New South Wales' Lowy Cancer Research Centre in Sydney.

He specialises in working with naturally-occurring compounds that have cancer-fighting properties and recently won the prestigious Kid's Cancer Project Award for his work using a modified antioxidant from green tea to fight Neuroblastoma, a common childhood cancer.

He tells BBC News his story and says he is optimistic that current research will be able to help reduce the side effects of cancer treatments.

Video produced by Katie Beck