Research: Hope for kid brain cancer

A breast cancer drug could be the key to treating the most common form of childhood brain tumour, research has found. A University of Queensland Institute for Molecular Bioscience study has shown the drug has the “remarkable” effect of rapidly shrinking medulloblastoma, which account for 20 per cent of all childhood brain tumours. UQ professor Brandon Wainwright said cancer usually required multiple kinds of treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. But in this instance, the drug had shrunk tumours in mice in just 20 days all by itself. “It’s very unusual for just a single treatment to have such a stunning effect,” he said. Prof Wainwright said researchers were now working towards a human trial using a similar drug combined with chemotherapy, describing the current cure rate for childhood brain cancers as “pretty dismal”.

Adelaide Advertiser, 14/08/2017, Page 9; Courier Mail, 14/08/2017, Page 3; Daily Telegraph, 14/08/2017; Herald Sun, 14/08/2017, Page 10; Northern Territory News, 14/08/2017, Page 6

#Research #BrainCancer #ChildhoodCancer #Trials #Tumour