Scientists in Newcastle-upon-Tyne are examining why some children with leukaemia fail to respond to a common treatment.

A research team at the University of Newcastle will look at why children vary in their response to the drug vincristine.

Most children respond well to the cancer-killing drug, but others are more resistant and require further, aggressive treatment.

The Leukaemia Research Fund (LRF), which is providing �100,000 to fund the research, hopes the study will lead to improved chances of survival in children with the disease.

We are striving for the best treatments to help children survive by making better use of existing drugs Professor Andrew Hall

The research team is headed by Professor Andrew Hall and Dr Julie Irving at the LRF Molecular Pharmacology Programme.

Blood cells will be taken from more than 50 children with leukaemia.

The researchers are interested in two genes - MDR1 and MRP1 - which regulate the levels of drug in the leukaemia cells.

They suspect that leukaemic cells are spitting out the drug to prevent them from being killed.

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Professor Hall said: "Overcoming this problem is a major step in getting more children onto long-term remission.

"We suspect that it is easier for vincristine to bind to certain leukaemia cells than others - so we will be looking to identify those children who may be better off having different treatments.

"We are striving for the best treatments to help children survive by making better use of existing drugs like vincristine."

Professor Hall and his team are looking at the most common form of leukaemia, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which affects 450 children in the UK every year.