St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists identified a promising combination approach to treat a rare, but catastrophic pediatric brain cancer called atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT). Read more: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20251216/Combination-therapy-shows-promise-to-treat-a-rare-catastrophic-pediatric-brain-cancer.aspx

Children with a rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma which hasn’t responded to initial treatment or that has relapsed may benefit from adding antibody treatment to usual chemotherapy, according to new results from a clinical trial. Read more: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/adding-antibody-treatment-to-chemo-boosts-outcomes-for-children-with-rare-cancer

Removing etoposide from frontline induction chemotherapy did not appear to negatively affect key outcomes for patients with pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to recent findings from a Children’s Oncology Group (COG) clinical trial presented at the ASH Annual Meeting 2025. Read more: https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com/reports/etoposide-safely-eliminated-pediatric-acute-myeloid-leukemia/

A unique facility in Melbourne containing hundreds of childhood cancer tissue samples has produced a first-of-its-kind catalog of pediatric cancers to help identify how the immune system can target each one. Read more: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-childhood-cancer-door-pediatric-immunotherapy.html#goog_rewarded

A team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has uncovered why children with the same leukemia-causing gene mutation can have dramatically different outcomes: it depends on when in development the mutation first occurs.   Read more: https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2025/mount-sinai-study-finds-childhood-leukemia-aggressiveness-depends-on-timing-of-genetic-mutation

Nearly a third of families with children receiving chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) – the most common pediatric cancer – develop serious financial difficulties during their child’s treatment, including losing 25% or more of their household income and struggling to cover the costs of basic living expenses such as housing, food, and utilities. Read more: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1108761

A discovery from Australian researchers could lead to better treatment for children with neuroblastoma, a cancer that currently claims 9 out of 10 young patients who experience recurrence. The team at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, found a drug combination that can bypass the cellular defenses these tumors develop that lead to relapse. Read more: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-drug-combination-sidesteps-resistance-aggressive.html

Ajay Major, MD, MBA, led a research study that found that childhood cancer survivors were diagnosed with subsequent colorectal cancer at younger ages than expected and had high mortality rates after a colorectal cancer diagnosis. Read more: https://news.cuanschutz.edu/cancer-center/childhood-cancer-survivors-higher-risk-colorectal-cancer

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Children's National Hospital in Washington D.C. are uncovering how rare inherited genetic variants contribute to the development of brain and spinal cord tumors in children. Read more: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/researchers-highlight-genetic-factors-in-pediatric-brain-and-spinal-cord-tumors-302623472.html

For Whitlock and other Canadian scientists who have collaborations with US partners, the past ten months have been turbulent. With US scientific agencies such as the NIH, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeing billions of dollars in funding cuts and job losses under the administration of US President Donald Trump, the effects have also been felt in Canada. There, cancelled projects and uncertainty have c