July 2020: Childhood Cancer Research Round-Up
We bring you a round-up of some recent childhood cancer news related to research, quality-of-life, and survivorship:
Genetics Could Help ID Childhood Cancer Survivors at Risk for New Malignancies
Analyzing the combination of treatments that childhood cancer survivors received for their malignancies as well as inherited mutations in their DNA-repair genes can help predict their risk for new cancer diagnoses.
The authors of the study that reached this finding, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, conducted sequencing of the whole genomes of 4,402 survivors of childhood cancer who participated in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort.
The scientists analyzed inherited mutations in 127 specific genes pertaining to six major DNA repair pathways. Then they cross-referenced these findings with the cumulative doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy that the survivors received for their cancer treatment per medical records.
Four hundred ninety-five (11.2%) of the survivors developed a subsequent cancer.
Read more. (CancerHealth)
FDA approves gemtuzumab ozogamicin for CD33-positive AML in pediatric patients
On June 16, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration extended the indication of gemtuzumab ozogamicin for newly-diagnosed CD33-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to include pediatric patients 1 month and older.
Read more. (FDA)
Early Screening With MRI May Reduce Breast Cancer Mortality in Survivors of Childhood Cancer Treated With Chest Radiation
The early initiation—at age 25 to 30—of annual breast cancer screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with or without mammography may reduce breast cancer mortality by more than half in survivors of childhood cancer who had been previously exposed to chest radiation, according to a study by Yeh et al published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Read more. (ASCO Post)
Helping children with cancer spend more time IV-pole-free
Children being treated for cancer often spend long days receiving chemotherapy intravenously or through a port.
They also often require regular blood transfusions, including platelets (which are involved in clotting, and produced in bone marrow), to maintain stability and health. But the platelet administration process is often agonizingly slow, typically taking hours, which means children are tethered to an IV and unable to move about freely.
Could kids being treated for cancer become IV pole-free more quickly if platelet administration was sped up?
Read more. (University of Virginia)
NIH: Clinical trial studies CAR T-cell therapy for relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia
Children and young adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that has progressed after initial treatment may be eligible to participate in a new clinical trial.
Nirali Shah, M.D., M.H.Sc., Lasker Clinical Research Scholar in the Pediatric Oncology Branch, is leading NCI’s participation in a trial of CAR T-cell therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that has progressed after initial treatment.
Read more. (NCI)
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