Forres mum of brave cancer girl hails potential breakthrough
New initiative could provide better means to treat child cancers - and recurring problems encountered by adults who've battled disease in their youth
A Moray mother has welcomed of a new initiative to bring genetic tests to children with cancer – bringing about an important step towards personalised treatments for children. Hailed as a step forward in the treatment of children with high-risk cancers, for a long time, children have been treated with ‘one-size-fits-all’ chemotherapy drugs that can cause major side-effects. Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden Hospital have developed this new genetic test that will be offered to children with solid tumours in an effort to analyse genetic changes in 81 cancer genes. This new test will open doors for researchers to find targeted, more effective therapies that will make a difference, not only to the treatments children receive, but to the quality of life they will enjoy post-treatment. The treatment holds out hope for families of children like Eileidh Paterson aged 4 from Forres.
Eileidh is fighting neuroblastoma – a high-risk childhood cancer. Eileidh’s been undergoing potentially life-saving treatment in the United States. Gail Paterson is Eileidh’s mother:- This first stage of the new initiative to bring these tests to all children diagnosed with a solid tumour will look to sample around 400 childhood over the next two years. The aim is to use the results from these samples to drive development of clinical trials investigating drugs targeting specific genetic changes in the tumours, moving towards personalised medicine for children affected by cancer – an opportunity that is becoming increasingly available for adults.