Children's cancer treatment hope

Scientists in Newcastle say they have uncovered an important clue about why some children respond better than others to cancer treatment.

Researchers at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research at Newcastle University monitored children being treated for cancer at hospitals in Newcastle and Glasgow.

The study - published in Clinical Cancer Research - focused on 36 children diagnosed with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The children, aged between two and 16 years, were tracked to see what happened when they were given a drug called cyclophosphamide.

It is hoped the findings could lead to tailor-made treatments that are more effective and with fewer side-effects.

This study provides an important step forward on our journey to understand how anti-cancer drugs work in children

Dr Alan Boddy

Dr Alan Boddy, from Cancer Research UK, said researchers found that treatment was more successful in children whose bodies were able to activate the drug effectively.

The cancer was more likely to return after treatment in those patients who could not break down the drug to release its active forms.

Dr Boddy said: "This study provides an important step forward on our journey to understand how anti-cancer drugs work in children.

"It may also widen our knowledge of how the same drug works in adult cancers.

"Research into childhood cancers is very specialised. Treatment for children with cancer is already very good, and eight out of 10 children diagnosed with the disease will survive.

"However, we are striving to improve therapy for the remaining 20%.

"To do this we need a greater understanding of how anti-cancer drugs work in children.

"The next step is to find out why some children are able to activate the anti-cancer drug better than others."

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK, the North of England Children's Cancer Research Fund (NECCR) and the Tyneside Leukaemia Research Fund.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma accounts for about 60 cases of childhood cancer in the UK and three to four children are diagnosed with the disease annually in the north of England.