In the UK, CRIS has been funding the childhood brain cancer project at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), coordinated by Prof. Chris Jones, since 2015.
Now, the ICR team has announced a breakthrough which will change treatment for babies with brain tumours.
This team of scientists carried out a large-scale study of 241 infants from around the world diagnosed with glioma brain tumours. This is the largest and most comprehensive study of infant gliomas to date.
They worked with colleagues at the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg in Germany, the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the US.
The study has shown that brain cancer in infants is biologically distinct from other childhood brain tumours and could be successfully treated with targeted drugs. These new results are set to change the World Health Organization’s diagnostic guidelines. This could mean that babies diagnosed with this aggressive type of tumour could be spared the devastating effects of chemotherapy.
The results were published in the premier journal Cancer Discovery.
We are excited by the results of this landmark study and proud to have supported it.
This was possible because of your generous donations – we could not do it without you.
These clinical trials will offer much-needed hope for families of babies with this type of brain tumour.