An app that allows users to help find a cure for cancer by pooling their smartphones' computing power has been launched today by Vodafone Foundation and The Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

DreamLab automatically downloads and solves research problems while the user sleeps, sending the results back to the Institute and speeding up research into breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancer.

The app only works when the phone is fully charged, and will not access personal information. Users will still be able to use their phone at the same time.

DreamLab aims to create the nation's first "smartphone supercomputer", and if 100,000 users pooled their phones' processing capabilities researchers would be able to crunch data approximately 3,000 times faster than the current rate, the Institute said.

With 5 million users, the speed would increase to 150,000 times the current rate that researchers can process the data, which would otherwise be limited by the huge computing power and expense required to analyse the information.

"There are many research questions that we want to ask, but some are just too computationally expensive, so we'd never dream of being able to ask them, or it would take us years and years," Garvan informatics chief Dr Warren Kaplan said.

"Vodafone's DreamLab gives us a free and dedicated virtual supercomputer to accelerate our cancer research."

Dr Samantha Oakes from the Institute described it as a "game-changer".

"I was six years old when my brother was suspected of having bone cancer, so I understand the toll this disease takes on patients and their friends and family," she said.

"The worst thing for those touched by cancer is fear; the fear of the unknown and of what's to come.

"As a nation who loves their smartphones, we now have a tremendous opportunity to put them to good use and help find a cure for cancer. Together, we can come to a greater understanding of how to treat it more swiftly."

Before the age of 85, 33 per cent of women and 50 per cent of men have the chance of developing the disease, Cancer Council Australia said.

"Almost every Australian has a heartbreaking story to tell about cancer," Vodafone Foundation Australia head Alyssa Jones said.

"We all want to play a part in the fight against this disease and now, with more smartphones than people, we have an opportunity to make a tangible difference."

The app is currently only available for Android users.