Joining forces with the CCIA
This was original posted in a press release by the CCIA
Children’s Cancer Institute and the Robert Connor Dawes Fund join forces for better brain tumour treatments
Children’s Cancer Institute is thrilled to have received $25,000 from the Robert Connor Dawes Fund (RCD Fund) towards its Personalised Medicine Program for paediatric brain tumour patients, aims to improve treatment options for children who would otherwise have a dismal prognosis.
Brain tumours are the second-most common type of cancer to affect children and the most fatal of all childhood cancers, making them an immediate priority of the Institute’s Personalised Medicine Program.
Led by Dr David Ziegler, Group Leader of Targeted Therapies at Children’s Cancer Institute and Paediatric Oncologist at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, the program will establish tailored therapeutics for children with high-risk brain tumours and other high-risk malignancies.
“Some types of children’s brain cancer are currently incurable,” says Dr Ziegler. “Personalised medicine offers a more structured approach to treatment. Ultimately we want to get to a point where we never have to tell another parent that their child is going to die.
“This program will allow all children newly diagnosed with high-risk brain tumours, or who relapse on standard therapies, to have their individual tumour cells tested to see how they respond to novel drugs – so we can effectively predict their response to treatment.”
The RCD Fund supports brain cancer research in memory of Robert ‘Connor’ Dawes, who lost his battle at the age of 18 to ependymoma – a disease in which cancer cells form in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord. Connor’s mother and the Fund’s Executive Director, Liz Dawes, believes brain tumour research is on the verge of exciting breakthroughs and that additional funding will help it reach its tipping point.
“We are delighted to support Children’s Cancer Institute in this meaningful way,” says Ms Dawes. “This Personalised Medicine Program, we believe, will be the way forward as researchers learn more about what will and will not work in the treatment of brain tumours. Any advances made will be a step forward in understanding and treating this cruel disease.”
Children’s Cancer Institute’s Personalised Medicine Program for childhood cancer will allow researchers, together with clinicians from Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, to identify treatments that will be tailored to each child and pinpoint drugs that are most likely to successfully treat their cancer. A program of this scale requires substantial funding – and without the support of bodies like the RCD Fund, we’re unable to complete the vital research we know will uncover a cure for childhood cancer and improve the quality of life for survivors.