Little Star Awards
Recent successes in children's cancer research
Read about some of the successes Cancer Research UK scientists have had in children's cancer research.
Blood donations used to treat children with rare cancer
Cancer Research UK scientists at the University of Edinburgh successfully used immune cells from blood donors to treat a form of cancer called PTLD (Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disease) which affects up to around 10 per cent of transplant patients.
The disease is caused by the Epstein-Barr Virus, which most people carry with no ill effects. Because children are less likely to have been previously exposed to the virus, they are more prone to develop PTLD when they meet the virus for the first time after transplant.
More than half of patients responded to the treatment. If further trials are successful, a single bank of T cells could potentially serve as a global source of immune cells to treat the condition.
Read the press release about this research.
Chemo instead of radiotherapy cuts long term side effects for children with brain tumours
Researchers from the Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG), funded by Cancer Research UK and Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust, undertook a ten-year trial involving 89 children under three from the UK, Scandinavia and The Netherlands with a type of brain tumour called ependymomas.
They monitored the children's progress for up to 12 years and discovered that using chemotherapy to delay or avoid radiotherapy reduces the risk of potentially damaging long term side effects, such as memory loss. The greater understanding of long term risks could help children with this type of cancer in the future.
Read the press release about this research.
Improving treatment for children with kidney cancer
A ten-year study by the Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) will help improve the treatment of children with a type of kidney cancer, called Wilm's tumour.
Doctors found that giving Wilm's tumour patients chemotherapy before surgery made tumour removal easier. This new approach also reduces the need for additional treatment after surgery, and children who are treated in this way experience fewer long-term side effects.
Around 80 children are diagnosed with Wilms tumour each year in the UK. Most of these children are under five years of age.
Read the press release about this research.
Selecting the best treatment for children with brain cancer
Researchers funded by Cancer Research UK and the Samantha Dickson Research Trust have discovered that measuring the activity of a protein called beta-catenin could help doctors chose the best treatment for children with a type of brain tumour called medulloblastoma.
Research carried out in Newcastle found that children with tumours showing activation of beta-catenin had much higher survival rates than patients without the activated protein. Children with the activated beta-catenin protein may have a milder form of the disease.
In the future this discovery could help doctors to treat children with this type of cancer more effectively, sparing some children from unnecessary treatment.
Medulloblastoma is the most common form of brain tumour in children, with around 60 cases diagnosed each year in the UK.
Read the press release about this research.
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