Rogue gene work could lead to cure for childhood cancer

8:22am Thursday 18th February 2010

By Barry Nelson

SCIENTISTS are a step closer to finding a cure for a deadly childhood cancer thanks to a breakthrough in the region.

The Newcastle University findings, published in the Clinical Cancer Research journal, could offer hope to parents whose children suffer dangerous relapses after being treated for neuroblastoma.

The cancer, which mainly affects under-fives, can occur anywhere from the neck to the groin, but is most common in the abdomen.

It is the second biggest cancer killer of children worldwide and remains one of the most difficult childhood cancers to cure.

Every year in the UK, 100 children will develop the disease, about half of them in the high-risk category.

While most neuroblastomas initially respond to treatment, relapsed high-risk neuroblastoma is extremely difficult to cure. In the UK, about 30 children die every year from the disease.

The discovery has identified abnormalities in a gene called P53, which may be one reason why relapses are so hard to cure.

Abnormalities in this gene were detected in almost half By Barry Nelson Health Editor barry.nelson@nne.co.uk of the 41 cases of relapsed neuroblastomas that were studied.

Experts hope they will now be able to develop therapies that target the rogue gene.

The research was led by Dr Deborah Tweddle, a clinical senior lecturer at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research, at Newcastle University, and a paediatric oncologist at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust.

She said: “By understanding more about the biology of neuroblastoma at relapse, we may be able to prevent it and reduce the deaths of many young children, with its devastating effect on families.”

Dr Tweddle said scientists at Newcastle and other centres were now developing a new generation of neuroblastoma drugs as a result of the research.

The funding for the project came from a National Institute for Health Research Clinician Scientist Fellowship and the North of England Children’s Cancer Research Fund.

Kathryn McDermott, from Chester-le-Street, whose son, James, six, was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma last year, said she hoped the research could offer hope to parents.

She said: “So far he has responded well to treatment and we have our fingers crossed that he does not relapse.

This breakthrough looks like it may help parents in the future, and that can only be a good thing.”