New cancer trial to help inform better treatment for children

A NEW cancer trial which aims to improve diagnosis and treatment for child sufferers is being rolled out across Australia.

Children with rare brain cancer will receive earlier diagnosis and tailored treatment as new lifesaving technology is introduced in Australia. Generic picture: iStock.

CHILDREN with rare brain cancer will receive earlier diagnosis and tailored treatment as new lifesaving technology is introduced in Australia.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt will today announce the clinical trial, which will be available to sick kids at the Royal Children’s Hospital from October 31.

It aims to save doctors precious time by refining the diagnosis of rare paediatric brain tumours and help inform more tailored treatment options.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: Mark Calleja

Mr Hunt said: “This helps provide kids with better and targeted treatments for cancer, and helps avoid unnecessary treatments that won’t work for a particular patient”.

The trial, Access to Innovative Molecular profiling for brain cancers (AIM BRAIN), will be jointly funded by the federal government, Cancer Australia and the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation.

Brain cancer kills more people under 25 years of age in Australia than any other cancer.

The survival rate is low, with about one in five surviving past five years.

Cancer Australia chief executive Dr Helen Zorbas said the trial would help save young lives.

”Molecular profiling gives us a more sophisticated and accurate understanding of cancer including the characteristics of brain subtypes, mechanisms which may drive tumour growth and reasons for variations in drug responsiveness.”

The federal government will also announceme $13 million from the Medical Research Future Fund will be made available from today to help boost clinical trials for other rare diseases.

@AneekaSimonis

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