More targeted treatments for cancer patients

Our Children’s Leukaemia and Cancer Research Division is looking at the genetic make up of individual tumours in children and then using that information to determine which form of treatment would be the most effective.  The research aims to help doctors develop a more targeted treatment for each young patient and could help the hundreds of Australian children who battle cancer every year.  

 

 

October 2005

New test proves effective in more cancers

The research team in the Division of Children's Leukaemia and Cancer Research identified crucial genes in a range of common cancers that have been reported to predict a patient's response to treatment. This follows the team's earlier success in studying a tumor suppressor gene associated with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in children. By using a simple test developed at the Institute, they can rapidly detect the presence or absence of these tumor suppressor genes in the patient's cancer cells. Tumor suppressor genes are linked to a variety of cancers including lung, breast, renal, colorectal, pancreatic, gastric, lymphoma and malignant melanoma.