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Currently funded research projects


Children with Cancer UK is one the UK’s leading funders of research into childhood cancer. We fund a wide range of research into childhood cancers, including research into causes, treatments and long-term effects.

Current projects are listed below.

Dr Janet Shipley, The Institute of Cancer Research, London

Larry McCarthy 18 March 2013
Pre-clinical testing of a new treatment approach for rhabdomyosarcoma.

Around 70 children are diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma every year in the UK. It is a cancer that is difficult to treat and remains a major cause of death from cancer in childhood, with little progress having been made in recent decades. The aim of this project is to take forward a new approach to the treatment of this disease.

Amount of grant: £113,684*                  Date of award: May 2012

The team
Dr Janet Shipley & Professor Andrew Pearson, The Institute of Cancer ... Read More

Dr Andrew Stoker, UCL Institute of Child Health

Larry McCarthy 15 March 2013
Combination treatments for neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma is one of the most common childhood cancers. It has a high-risk form that is difficult to cure, despite intensive treatment. This project aims to deliver a better understanding of ways to treat this devastating disease.

Amount of grant: £69,244*                Date of award: May 2012

The team
Dr Andrew Stoker, Dr Stephen Hart, Dr Thomas Jacques & Professor Neil Sebire, UCL Insitute of Child Health.

Background

Neuroblastoma – a nerve tumour - is one of the most common childhood cancer... Read More

Dr Juan Pedro Martinez-Barbera, UCL Institute of Child Health

Larry McCarthy 15 March 2013
Development of novel chemical therapies against childhood craniopharyngioma.

Childhood craniopharyngioma is a rare but devastating brain tumour. Whilst it can usually be ‘successfully’ treated in that most children do not die, these young patients are left with a range of problems that result in a very poor quality of life.

The team aims to identify new drugs that could offer cure whilst reducing or avoiding the need for damaging brain surgery and radiotherapy.

Amount of grant: £39,576*                Date of award: June 2012

The team
Dr J... Read More

Professor Nicholas Coleman, University of Cambridge

Larry McCarthy 15 March 2013
Blood-based monitoring of treatment response in common childhood cancers.

In this project, the team is building on previous work profiling short pieces of genetic code, called microRNAs, in the blood of children being treated for cancer. They are now testing whether measurement of specific microRNAs in blood samples can be used to accurately assess response to treatment in common childhood cancers such as neuroblastoma, Wilms tumour and lymphoma.

Amount of grant: £49,920*                  Date of award: May 2012

The team
Professor Nicholas ... Read More

Professor Rob Mairs, University of Glasgow

Larry McCarthy 15 March 2013
Assessment of MIBG therapy in combination with cytotoxic drugs for neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma, one of the most common childhood cancers, is often not diagnosed until it has spread to other parts of the body. At this stage it is very difficult to treat. A form of radiotherapy known as MIBG therapy has generated long-term remissions but cannot cure advanced disease. Professor Mairs is exploring the use of MIBG therapy in combination with chemotherapy drugs to develop a new, more effective approach.

Amount of grant: £79,429*               Date... Read More

Professor Vaskar Saha, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Manchester

Larry McCarthy 15 March 2013
Optimisation of the use of drugs in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

There is wide variability in the way that individual children metabolise different drugs. In this project, Professor Saha is setting out to tailor therapy to individual children based on their drug metabolism, adjusting both the dose and scheduling accordingly. We hope that this will help decrease the rates of both toxicity and disease recurrence.

Amount of grant: £140,611*                 Date of award: June 2012

The team
Professor Vaskar Saha & Dr Ashish Masurekar,... Read More

Professor Tariq Enver, UCL Cancer Institute

Larry McCarthy 15 March 2013
The role of the leukaemic stem cell in disease relapse.

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is the most common form of childhood cancer, with around 400 children diagnosed every year in the UK. Although 90% of these children can now be cured, this survival rate has only been achieved with the most intensive and thus most toxic treatment protocol of almost any other childhood cancer. This project could pave the way for the development of new treatments, particularly for the group of high-risk children with resistant disease.

Amount of grant: £142,4... Read More

Dr John Anderson, UCL Institute of Child Health

Larry McCarthy 01 March 2013
Immunotherapy for high-risk neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is one of the most common childhood tumours. It has a high-risk form that is one of the most difficult childhood cancers to cure, despite intensive therapy. This project aims to harness a new immunotherapy approach to develop a treatment strategy for high-risk neuroblastoma that is more effective and less toxic than current approaches.

Amount of grant:  £151,195*                Date of award:  June 2012

The team
Dr John Anderson, Dr Martin Pule & Dr Karin Straatfhof, UCL Institute of Ch... Read More

Dr Marina Hughes, Great Ormond Street Hospital

Larry McCarthy 26 February 2013
Implementing cardiac MRI to quantify heart damage in childhood cancer survivors.

Drugs used in the treatment of childhood cancer have a variety of adverse effects, including the risk of heart damage. In this pilot project, Dr Hughes and colleagues are taking forward new techniques for accurately assessing cardiac damage in young patients and adult survivors.

Amount of grant: £49,877                Date of award: December 2012

Dr Marina Hughes & Dr Tanzina Chowdhury, Great Ormond Street Hospital; Dr James Moon, the Heart Hospital Imaging Cent... Read More

Dr Ketan Patel, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge

Isabelle Gore 25 June 2012
Mechanisms of protection against genetic damage in utero.

The initiating genetic events that can lead to the development of childhood leukaemia can occur before birth, whilst the child is still in the womb. These events may be caused by harmful exposures during pregnancy and Dr Patel is investigating the processes that cause – and protect against – genetic damage before birth.

Amount of grant: £300,000               Date of award: December 2011 

Overview

We know that the initiating genetic events that can lead to the development of childhoo... Read More
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