New research into acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has been funded, thanks to two Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) Special Named Funds.
Money raised by #teamkai and A Goal for Sam has helped fund the new project, titled 'Studying the origins of childhood acute myeloid leukaemia to identify targets for kinder and more effective treatments'.
Led by Dr Juliana Fabiani Miranda at the University of York, the project could identify better ways to attack childhood AML cells and will set the foundations for future research by providing data about cancer cells' weaknesses.
Dr Miranda, who will be starting work in June, said:
Children with AML are currently given toxic and inefficient treatments. This means their quality of life ends up significantly decreased. This project aims to identify less toxic and more effective treatments by using state-of-the-art technology to analyse the proteins found in cancer cells.
In her project, Dr Miranda will use leukaemia samples provided by the VIVO Biobank, which is funded by Cancer Research UK and Blood Cancer UK, as part of a new collaboration between the biobank and CCLG. The new partnership bypasses the need for researchers to collect cancer samples, allowing them to dedicate more time and funding to carrying out meaningful research.
Dr Miranda will look at all the proteins and genetic molecules present in different patients’ cancer cells, and then, she hopes to identify which are essential for leukaemia survival.
She added: “The new funding will help develop new methods of investigating patient cancer samples. This will help identify new treatments and screen new targets for paediatric AML treatment.
“The results from this will provide insights which will aid future research. For example, it could help researchers predict the severity of a patient's cancer or decide which treatment to give.”
This project has been supported by A Goal for Sam, a Special Named Fund set up by Catherine and Kambiz Jahanshahi. Their son six-year-old Sam was diagnosed with AML just two days before his death.
Catherine told us:
Sam was only ill for a little over a week before he died and during this time, he was twice misdiagnosed. Leukaemia came from nowhere, with no warning, and left no time for a proper treatment plan.
We now know that if he had been able to start treatment, it would have heavily degraded his quality of life and had limited prospects of success. We want A Goal for Sam to help identify kinder and more effective treatments that will give children much better chances of survival.
Kambiz added:
Funding this project is a step towards being able to understand why Sam developed this cruel and aggressive illness. It means that Sam will play a part in improving outcomes for children with AML in the future.
A fund set up in memory of three-year-old Kai, #teamkai, has also contributed to this research.
Kai’s aunt, Philippa, said:
Acute myeloid leukaemia is an aggressive cancer that causes symptoms quickly, as was the case with Kai, and progresses rapidly.
It was really important to us to set up Kai’s Special Named Fund. Firstly, because AML is mainly diagnosed in adults and so the opportunity to work with CCLG to improve outcomes for those with paediatric AML was important to us as a family. Secondly, we wanted to ensure that all Kai suffered was not in vain - that his memory and vivacity for life lived on.
The poor prognosis we received for Kai really illustrates how important it is to find kinder and more effective treatments for AML. Funding this project is another step closer to understanding AML.
Ashley Ball-Gamble, CEO of CCLG, said:
We’re proud to support this important research project through our collaboration with the VIVO Biobank. By providing essential resources and funding to early career researchers like Dr Miranda, we are investing in the future of childhood cancer.
This project holds promise for the development of less toxic and more effective AML treatments. It will provide a solid foundation for future research, with the potential to lead to better childhood cancer care.
Professor Deborah Tweddle, Director of VIVO Biobank, said: “We are delighted that we get to facilitate this amazing piece of research. Our collaboration with CCLG to establish the pilot grant scheme has allowed us to make our vast range of leukaemia samples accessible to early career researchers.”