Funded by The Little Princess Trust and administered by CCLG
Lead investigator: Dr Anbarasu Lourdusamy, University of Nottingham
Award: £99,924.64
Awarded August 2019
Ependymoma is the second most common type of brain tumour in children. Current treatment options include surgery and radiotherapy and for very young children, chemotherapy. Despite these treatments, ependymoma comes back (recurrence) in about 50% of cases, and so research to help identify new ways of treating this condition are vital.
Recurrent ependymoma can happen shortly or several years after the first treatment, but invariably is incurable at this point. Currently, there is no standardised treatment strategy defined for recurrent ependymoma. Given that a significant number of children with ependymoma experience recurrences, better understanding of the underlying biology of ependymoma brain tumours is needed in order to devise better treatments and minimise the risk of recurrence.
Dr Anbarasu’s research will make use of the large number of recurrent tumour samples collected in Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) Centres in the UK to identify molecular features that define recurrent ependymoma.The research team will use molecular profiles derived using powerful sequencing technologies to understand the differences between tumour samples taken before and after treatment. Ultimately, in unravelling novel molecular features, this research will contribute to the quest to develop more effective treatments to help reduce recurrence and prolong survival of children with ependymoma brain tumours.