Investigating the causes

Despite incredible progress in treating childhood cancers, we still know surprisingly little about their causes. We are committed to finding out more.

Research into the causes of childhood cancer is a broad field. It includes research into possible environmental and lifestyle factors as well as the underlying biological mechanisms by which these cancers develop.

Lifestyle and environment

In Britain, and much of the rest of the world, childhood cancer incidence rates increased significantly during the latter part of the last century. Improvements in diagnosis and registration may partly explain the increase but there does appear to have been a genuine underlying increase in risk.

Although incidence seems to have now reached a plateau, the rise in incidence suggests that something about our modern lifestyle has increased the risk of our children developing cancer.

If we can understand which elements of today’s lifestyle are placing our children at risk, it may be possible to implement protective measures.

We are funding an important project being led by Professor Jillian Birch at the University of Manchester, studying the development of a group of rare childhood cancers known as embryonal tumours. These tumours are mainly seen in very young children but because of their rarity they are very difficult to study.

We hope this new study, which is part of an international collaboration, will shed light on the role of exposures to suspected risk factors during key periods of development.

Read more: Professor Jillian Birch, University of Manchester

Biological mechanisms

Improving our understanding of the biological mechanisms by which childhood cancers develop gives us an insight into better ways of treating them. It will aid the development of more effective, targeted treatments.

Professor Tariq Enver is an international leader in the field of leukaemic stem cells. His recent breakthrough research identified the pre-leukaemic stem cells in which the most common form of childhood leukaemia first arises.

As part of his ongoing research, he is working with the team at Great Ormond Street Hospital to look at the persistence of the leukaemic stem cell during treatment – and whether regular chemotherapy eliminates these deadly cells.

Read more: Professor Tariq Enver, UCL Cancer Institute, London

Current research

The projects described above are just two examples of our many projects looking at aspects of childhood cancer causation and development. These projects are taking place in centres of research excellence in the UK and abroad.

Read more: Our currently funded causes projects