Cancer Research UK study looks to find cause of disease in babies before birth
It is being led by researchers at the University of Edinburgh
A £2m project in Scotland aims to uncover what causes cancer in babies before they are even born.
Cancer Research UK has awarded the cash for the study, led by Professor Katrin Ottersbach of the University of Edinburgh, to find factors driving leukaemia while babies are still in the womb or in the early weeks after birth.
Leukaemia is a type of cancer which affects blood cells, causing them to be produced incorrectly or in too great or too few numbers.
In infants it is most commonly caused by a chromosomal rearrangement in a gene called MLL (mixed-lineage leukaemia).
The research team hopes its findings will be able to establish new treatments which could stop the disease in its tracks.
Professor Katrin Ottersbach, of the University of Edinburgh, said: “We know that the causes of leukaemia in young infants are present before these children are born.
“By studying in detail the systems which create blood in the body, we hope we can establish what is driving this disease within these very young children.
“If we pinpoint these drivers, we may able to target these and find new or existing therapies which stop the cancer developing.”
Mum of daughter impacted by cancer welcoming study
The investment was welcomed by Kerri Paton of Turriff, Aberdeenshire, whose daughter, Amelia, was diagnosed with leukaemia aged just three weeks old in December 2017.
Amelia had two types of leukaemia - acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and acute myeloid leukaemia - and spent her first Christmas in hospital.
After two stem cell bone marrow transplants, Amelia is now cancer free and has just finished primary one.
Kerri said: “To be told our baby had two types of cancer was just devastating. To have to go through so much at such a young age seems so unfair.
“But Amelia has been a little fighter from the day she was born, and we are so proud of her and everything she has achieved.
“If this research can help other children like Amelia to tackle this horrible disease, then that would be fantastic.”
Hundreds of children are diagnosed with the disease each year
Leukaemia is the most common cancer in children and is particularly difficult to treat in infant patients under the age of one.
Each year around 280 children aged under four-years-old are diagnosed with leukaemia in the United Kingdom.
Dr Catherine Elliott, Director of Research at Cancer Research UK, said: “Leukaemia affecting babies in the very early days of life, or while still in the womb, is devastating for families.
“This research offers valuable insights into what happens inside very young infants to trigger the disease and will hopefully set us on the path to new treatments which will offer hope to families now and in the future.”