Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are working with colleagues in China to develop better therapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Results from a large phase 3 noninferiority clinical trial definitively showed that vincristine and dexamethasone pulses can be eliminated in patients with low-risk disease. Read more: https://www.newswise.com/articles/international-collaboration-helps-refine-treatment-for-childhood-leukemia

Researchers at UCL have developed a new way to deliver drugs that can shut down cancer-promoting mutations in neuroblastoma. The findings in mice, show the method, which uses tiny bubbles to deliver therapies directly to tumor cells, reduced tumor growth and improved survival. Read more: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-tiny-common-childhood-cancer.html

Geneticists from Trinity College Dublin have discovered how a specific genetic mutation called H3K27M causes a devastating, incurable childhood cancer, known as diffuse midline glioma (DMG), and — in lab studies working with model cell types — successfully reverse its effects to slow cancer cell growth with a targeted drug. Read more: https://scitechdaily.com/geneticists-reveal-how-mutation-causes-a-devastating-childhood-cancer-use-drug-to-reverse-its-effects/

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have found a link between post-cancer treatment frailty and neurocognitive decline in young adult childhood cancer survivors. Read more: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210720/Frailty-contributes-to-neurocognitive-decline-in-young-adult-childhood-cancer-survivors.aspx

An innovative clinical trial led by Dr. Nicholas Vitanza, a neuro-oncologist at Seattle Children’s, shows promise that delivering cancer-fighting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells directly to the brain for children and young adults with recurrent or refractory brain and central nervous system (CNS) tumors may be feasible and tolerable. Read more: https://pulse.seattlechildrens.org/research-shows-seattle-childrens-pioneering-immunotherapy-trial-may-be-feasible-to-co

For the first time, Princess Margaret researchers have mapped out where and how leukemia begins and develops in infants with Down syndrome in preclinical models, paving the way to potentially prevent this cancer in the future. Read more: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-07/uhn-cli070721.php

A genetic map of an aggressive childhood brain tumour called medulloblastoma has helped researchers identify a new generation anti-cancer drug that can be repurposed as an effective treatment for the disease. Read more: https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2021/07/new-generation-anti-cancer-drug-shows-promise-children-brain-tumours

Now researchers in the Feng lab at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), in collaboration with scientists in the Simon lab at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), have not only discovered why this cancer is so aggressive but also reveal a promising therapeutic approach to treat these patients. Read more: https://scitechdaily.com/potential-treatment-may-prevent-cancer-cells-from-hijacking-metabolic-pathways/

Pediatric melanoma is a rare disease with only around 400 cases diagnosed in the United States every year. To better understand this disease and how best to treat it, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists created a registry called Molecular Analysis of Childhood MELanocytic Tumors (MACMEL). Read more: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-07/sjcr-mrr070621.php

Now, research led by USC investigators has shined new light on how medulloblastoma travels to other sites within the central nervous system. The study, which appeared in the journal Cell Reports, showed that an enzyme called GABA transaminase, abbreviated as ABAT, aids metastases in surviving the hostile environment around the brain and spinal cord and in resisting treatment. These findings may provide clues to new strategies for targeting deadly medulloblastoma metasta