Cancer hope for children as targeted medicines ‘cure aggressive cases’

TREATING childhood cancer with medicine tailored to individual patients could halve the risk of it growing or spreading, a study found.

It suggests kids with highly aggressive cancers are much more likely to be cured with new precision medications.

Personalised medicine is thought by many to be the future of cancer care but it is expensive and in its relatively early stages.

The NHS in England has committed to offering all children with cancer personalised medicine, and now screens the DNA of every youngster who gets a diagnosis to tailor their treatment.

Scientists at Sydney Children’s Hospital in Australia tracked 384 young patients with slim hopes of a cure for their cancer.

They were split so 256 children received treatment tailored to their exact cancer while 110 were given standard care.

Tumours shrank or stayed the same in 26 per cent of the precision medicine group, compared to just 12 per cent in the standard group.

More than half of those using the modern treatment – 55 per cent – went into partial or total remission despite having a less than 30 per cent chance of a cure.

Study author Professor David Ziegler said: “These are very exciting results which we believe have important implications for the treatment of children with cancer.

“We’ve already shown that precision medicine can help identify new treatment options for many high-risk patients. 

“Now we’ve shown that it not only can shrink their tumours but can also lead to a significant improvement in long term survival.”

Children in the study, published in Nature Medicine, had a range of cancers including brain tumours, leukaemia, sarcoma and cancer in the thyroid or pancreas.

Two thirds received specialised treatments, which can target hormones and growth factors involved in their specific cancers, rather than standard therapy.

Cancer is rare in British children, with about 1,900 cases per year.

This offers hope to families where none previously existed

Professor Glenn MarshallSydney Children’s Hospital, Australia

Cancer Research UK estimates about 0.2 per cent of children – fewer one in every 400 – will develop a tumour by the age of 14.

About eight in 10 survive for at least five years after their diagnosis.

Risk factors are poorly understood but brain tumours and leukaemia cancers are most common in youngsters, and they likely cannot be prevented.

Co-lead author Professor Glenn Marshall said: “This work provides some hope to families where none previously existed.”