Cancer survival rates in children could be dramatically improved with new genetic tests
The tests could make it easier for doctors to choose personalised drugs and treatments for young cancer sufferers
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Your support makes all the difference.Child cancer survival rates could dramatically improve if new genetic tests prove successful, scientists say.
Around 400 children from across the UK are set to undergo the tests, which could make it easier for doctors to prescribe them personalised drugs and treatments.
The initiative will be led by researchers from London's Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, who will painstakingly sequence 81 different cancer genes over the next two years.
Once the tests are completed, the results will help doctors choose which medicines or clincial trials would benefit each patient the most.
Personalised remedies are increasingly being offered to adults, so researchers hope their project will help level the playing field.
Professor Louis Chesler, the leader of the study and a consultant at the Royal Marsden, said: "Children deserve the very best, modern treatments for cancer, but for too long there have been delays in applying the latest molecular techniques to personalise their treatment."
"A more comprehensive and structured approach to genetic testing to match children with cancer to specific targeted treatments could be an incredibly important step towards increasing survival."
He said there are still "major barriers" to obtaining targeted cancer drugs for children, but he hopes his team's work will help drive forward their use.
According to Cancer Research UK, around five children are diagnosed with the disease every day across the country.
Cancer is the leading cause of death for children aged 1-14 in the UK, with around 250 children dying from it each year.
Although the death rate for children with cancer has more than halved in the UK since the 1970s, studies like this one may help drive down those figures even more
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