The Australian arm of an international clinical trial looking at improved treatments for young babies with leukaemia has been awarded funding from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund.
Dr Rishi Kotecha, a researcher in the The Kids Cancer Centre and paediatric haematologist/oncologist at Princess Margaret Hospital, was awarded $314,772 through Monash University for a collaborative study looking at a novel drug to treat leukaemia in babies less than 12 months of age.
Dr Kotecha will lead the Australian arm of the international study, with the national coordination centre and data collection hub based in Perth.
Ten babies with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) will be recruited onto the trial from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, joining another 20 babies recruited from other international sites.
Dr Kotecha said the study is examining whether the novel drug blinatumomab, can be safely added to the standard chemotherapy used to treat infants with ALL, and if it is better than chemotherapy alone.
“ALL is very rare in babies under one year of age and the outcomes are devastating with many not surviving,” said Dr Kotecha.
“Most of these babies have a distinct genetic change which makes them even more likely to die from their disease.”
“We are hoping this drug, which has already been trialled in older children, can provide positive outcomes in young babies.”
The results from this study will be used to develop the first worldwide collaborative trial involving all international study groups for infant ALL.
The Australian and New Zealand Children's Haematology/Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) provide a unique clinical trials platform to help facilitate conduct of this trial in Australia and are based at Monash University.
Childhood cancer is the most common cause of death by disease in Australian children, with leukaemia the most common cancer in children. Leukaemia is rare in babies who are less than one year of age with only one or two infants diagnosed in Western Australia each year. Sadly, only 40 per cent of these young patients survive.
The Medical Research Future Fund grants were announced by Minister Greg Hunt. Read the Minister’s media release here.