The Little Princess Trust (LPT) has announced eight new childhood cancer research projects, awarded in partnership with Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG).
CCLG works with the LPT, using our significant expertise to run and manage its extensive research programme to ensure that only the best research is funded.
With a focus on creating more treatment options for children with cancer, the new projects cover a range of cancers from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) to diffuse midline glioma (DIPG).
Professor Majlinda Lako is a first-time LPT funded researcher, who is leading the first CCLG-supported project into retinoblastoma, the most common type of childhood eye cancer.
Treatments for retinoblastoma can cause serious side effects like kidney damage and hearing loss. That’s why Professor Lako and her team want to find better and safer treatments.
They have been studying the molecules inside retinoblastoma cells to find out what genes are active. The researchers have found triggers that lead to healthy cells becoming cancerous and identified drugs that could target these triggers.
In this project, the researchers will assess whether these drugs could be used as a new treatment for retinoblastoma. The medicines that are most successful at killing retinoblastoma cells will then be tested to see whether can reach the retina of the eye through the bloodstream, and how long they work for once there.
Talking about what it means to have received this funding, Professor Lako said:
With this funding we hope to move from our initial idea to new treatment for this rare disease that affects young children. We are truly excited to work with the Little Princess Trust to develop brand-new treatments that can be further tested in clinical trials.
Another researcher receiving funding from the LPT for the first time is Dr Frederik van Delft. Dr van Delft is working to make accessing a new treatment option for relapsed T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (TALL) easier and more cost effective.
Relapsed TALL, which has come back during or after treatment, often can’t be treated with steroids as they no longer have an effect. Research has shown that using a medicine called dasatinib alongside usual treatment can overcome steroid resistance.
Currently it is complicated to test whether a child could benefit from using dasatinib, and the test is only available in Switzerland. Dr van Delft and his team at Newcastle University plan to develop a new-and-improved test which will measure the activity levels of a leukaemia cell process that is closely linked to whether dasatinib would work for that patient.
Dr van Delft said:
This project aims to modify an existing laboratory test to be able to pinpoint patients that are likely to respond to dasatinib. The improved test will make it easier to study the drug and how it works in an upcoming clinical trial. We hope this research will allow us to develop new ways to treat and improve outcomes for patients with relapsed T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
CCLG is proud to be supporting these new projects, and to welcome new researchers to our childhood cancer research community.
Sarah Evans, CCLG Research Manager, said: “It is fantastic to be working with the Little Princess Trust on these new projects, and we look forward to seeing how the researchers will help change the future for children with cancer.”
The eight new childhood cancer research projects funded are:
- Identifying new drugs for the treatment of retinoblastoma with Professor Majlinda Lako, Newcastle University
- Stopping treatment resistance in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia with Dr Frederik van Delft, Newcastle University
- The Nephrogreen study – can dye help surgeons remove kidney tumours? with Mr Max Pachl, Birmingham Children's Hospital
- Repurposing existing medicines to treat incurable childhood brain tumours with Dr David Michod, University College London
- Blocking processes which keep leukaemia cells alive with Professor Owen Williams, University College London
- Blocking chemical reactions which keep ependymoma cells alive with Dr Ruman Rahman, University of Nottingham
- Testing existing drugs in new combinations for high-risk neuroblastoma with Dr Karim Malik, University of Bristol
- Blood tests to monitor rhabdomyosarcoma treatment with Professor Janet Shipley, The Institute of Cancer Research