TREATING childhood cancer with medicines tailored to individual patients could halve the risk of it growing or spreading, a study has found.
This suggests that children with highly aggressive cancers are much more likely to be cured with new precision medicines.
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Personalized medicine is considered by many to be the future of cancer treatment, but it is expensive and in its relatively early stages.
The NHS in England has committed to offering every child with cancer personalized medicine and now analyzes the DNA of every young person who receives a diagnosis to tailor their treatment.
Scientists at Sydney Children’s Hospital in Australia followed 384 young patients with little hope of a cure for cancer.
They were divided so that 256 children received treatment tailored to their exact cancer, while 110 received standard care.
Tumors shrank or stayed the same in 26% of the precision medicine group, compared with just 12% in the standard group.
More than half of the people who used the modern treatment – 55 percent – went into partial or complete remission, despite having less than a 30 percent chance of being cured.
Study author Professor David Ziegler said: “These are very exciting results that we believe have important implications for the treatment of children with cancer.
“We have already demonstrated that precision medicine can help identify new treatment options for many high-risk patients.
“Now we have demonstrated that not only can it shrink tumors, but it can also lead to a significant improvement in long-term survival.”
The children included in the study, published in Nature Medicine, had a range of cancers, including brain tumors, leukemia, sarcoma and thyroid or pancreatic cancer.
Two-thirds received specialized treatments, which may target the hormones and growth factors involved in their specific cancers, rather than standard therapy.
Cancer is rare in British children, with around 1,900 cases a year.
This offers families hope where none existed before
Professor Glenn Marshall
Cancer Research UK estimates that around 0.2% of children – less than one in 400 – will develop a tumor by the age of 14.
About eight in 10 survive at least five years after diagnosis.
Risk factors are poorly understood, but brain tumors and leukemia cancers are more common in young people and probably cannot be prevented.
Co-lead author Professor Glenn Marshall said: “This work offers some hope to families where none previously existed.”
SIGNS OF CANCER IN CHILDREN
CHILDHOOD cancer is rare in the UK, with only around one in 450 children diagnosed by the age of 14, but there are still around five new cases every day.
Symptoms of cancer in children can be similar to other illnesses and difficult to detect as they may not be able to explain how they feel.
Cancer Research UK states that warning symptoms may include:
- An unexplained lump or swelling that doesn’t go away
- Unable to pee or pass blood
- Back or bone pain or pain that wakes you up at night
- Seizures or changes in mood or behavior
- Unusual pallor
- Feeling tired all the time
- Unexplained vomiting, fever, or shortness of breath
- Frequent infections or flu-like symptoms
- Change in the appearance of one eye
- Frequent or unexplained bruising
Cancer Research said the above symptoms are usually caused by something else, but should be investigated by a GP if parents are concerned.
Source: Cancer research in the UK
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