Improving survival rates for children with leukaemia
Professor Murray Norris AM and his team developed a pioneering tool that is improving the survival of children with leukaemia by stopping the cancer from returning. This research has also discovered compounds that could stop pre-cancerous cells from turning into cancer, laying the foundation for a leukaemia prevention strategy.
Background
Leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer, accounting for around one third of all cancers diagnosed in children. Since the 1960s when leukaemia was virtually incurable, survival rates have improved significantly with the development of effective chemotherapy approaches. Despite this, leukaemia remains one of the most common causes of death from disease in children. If this is to be changed, research must focus on children with high risk and relapsed cancer, as well as on leukaemia prevention strategies.
The research
- Professor Norris and his colleagues have made exciting advances in developing treatment strategies for children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
- The team has created a tool that can detect very small numbers of cancer cells in patients who have already been treated for leukaemia, providing a new way to help prevent the cancer from returning.
- Another major challenge in leukaemia treatment is that children can be resistant to anti-cancer drugs. To overcome this resistance, the researchers developed molecules that can be used to more effectively deliver chemotherapy drugs straight to the cancer cells.
- This has the potential to improve a child’s response to treatment, reduce side effects and improve long-term outcomes.
The impact
This pioneering research from Professor Norris’s team has led to the creation of a ‘Minimal Residual Disease’ model for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which detects traces of leftover cancer cells in a child.
If residual leukaemia cells are found, the child can then receive additional treatment to stop their cancer from ever coming back. This tool is now being used as a quality standard of care across Australian paediatric hospitals, and has proven successful in reducing the number of children who relapse with leukaemia. Importantly, this technology has helped improve the survival of children with leukaemia. As part of this research, the team also discovered compounds that can stop pre-cancerous cells from becoming cancerous in young children.
More studies are required, but this offers an exciting opportunity to block the growth of the cancer cells and could ultimately lead to a leukaemia prevention strategy for children.
Research team
Professor Murray Norris AM
Children’s Cancer Institute
Professor Michelle Haber AM
Professor Glenn Marshall AM
Associate Professor Maria Kavallaris