The latest research techniques and cutting-edge technology approaches will be used in an initiative to develop revolutionary treatments for children diagnosed with low-grade brain tumours.
The project has been backed by £1.6million from The Brain Tumour Charity and will advance knowledge of brain tumours, how they behave in the body, how to better treat them and how to improve quality of life for children affected.
Embracing techniques including Artificial Intelligence (AI), the research will focus on improving understanding of how tumour growth is controlled in the body and how ‘sleeping’ (also known as senescent) cells influence tumour growth and respond to treatment, which could help improve treatment options in the future.
The project brings together experts from UCL, Queen Mary University of London and Great Ormond Street Hospital, with researchers at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and will continue the groundbreaking work of The Everest Centre, following a second total investment of £5million by The Brain Tumour Charity.
More than 400 children are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year in the UK. And, of these, approximately half are low-grade tumours.
Kinder and more effective treatments are needed as 20 per cent of children do not survive for more than 20 years following a diagnosis.
The current standard of care, which includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy and high-risk surgery, has a significant impact on a child’s quality of life.
Scientists at UCL will focus their research on tumour biology to understand the genetic make-up of low-grade tumours as this will help to improve the precision of diagnosis and work towards more personalised treatments to benefit patients.
They will also compare key features of low-grade paediatric brain tumours with other tumours in children and will explore how brain tumours protect themselves from the immune system and resist treatment.
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London will investigate how tumour cell growth is controlled by the MAPK signalling pathway – a molecular cascade that controls the way cells multiply, survive and die, and is the most frequently altered pathway in paediatric low-grade brain tumours.
Professor Tom Jacques, of UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said: “Advancing our understanding of the molecular biology of these tumours will improve the ways in which we can clinically manage treatment.
“A deeper understanding of low-grade tumours will help us identify targets for new potential treatments.
“Our collaborations in the UK and Germany will allow us to harmonise diagnostic practises across Europe which will benefit those newly diagnosed.
“And the more data we collect about the genetic make-up of low-grade paediatric brain tumours will only further our ability to give children and their families more hope.”
A new innovative clinical trial, known as EPILOGUE, will also be developed to identify new treatment options for patients.
Ulixertinib, a first-class drug recently discovered by scientists at The Everest Centre as a potential new treatment for low-grade brain tumours in children, will be one of the first drugs tested in the EPILOGUE trial.
Professor JP Martinez-Barbera, of UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said: “Thanks to funding from The Brain Tumour Charity, our achievements so far lay down a strong foundation for developing new approaches to treatments for children with low-grade brain tumours.
“Our research aims to use knowledge already gained from work at the Everest Centre to further understand the role of senescence in low-grade brain tumours and identify new vulnerabilities of these brain tumour cells in order to explore novel treatment options for children.
“Our collaborations within UCL, and with partners at Queen Mary University of London and in Germany will enhance our research capability and truly improve options for children with a low-grade brain tumour diagnosis.”
A new quality of life questionnaire will also be introduced to help fully understand the effect of treatments on children.
