| Project title | Cure Brain Cancer Biomarker and Translational Research Lab (Funded in Partnership With the Love for Lachie Fundraising Group) |
|---|---|
Grant Amount | $199,189 |
Institution | University of New South Wales |
Investigator Team | Principal investigator A/Prof. Kerrie McDonald |
Grant Type | Laboratory Support Grant |
Years | 2018 – 2019 |
People with the same type of cancer often respond differently to treatment. This is because of genetic differences within tumours, which vary greatly from person to person. This project will analyse tumour genomic data to identify new biomarkers that can help with prognosis of childhood brain cancer, and identify new targets for therapeutic treatment. This funding will allow two bioinformaticians to compute and process genomic data for children with brain cancer. The research team believes that gaining a better understanding of the genomic and transcriptomic footprint of the cancer will lead to better diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of childhood brain cancer, leading to better survival times.
“Without support from Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and Love for Lachie, our insight into the heterogeneity of paediatric GBM and paediatric ependymoma would not be possible.”
A/Prof. Kerrie McDonald
Final report
- Knowledge that there are different subtypes of paediatric glioblastoma will significantly help in the treatment of future children with glioblastoma as not every tumour will respond the same way to treatment. It is recommended that all children with glioblastoma be enrolled into the ZERO clinical trial program.
- We have identified a new combination treatment for ependymomas. This is a huge breakthrough for this predominantly untreatable disease.
- We have developed a robust platform for analysing whole genome sequencing for patient tumour tissue.This platform allows us to identify aberrations and potentially recommend new treatments.
Without support from Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and Love for Lachie, our insight into the heterogeneity of paediatric GBM and paediatric ependymoma would not be possible. The funding resulted in the employment of two bioinformaticians who have streamlined the bioinformatics pipelines for future patient analysis. Funding also permitted the employment of an experienced research assistant who is testing animals harbouring ependymoma and treated with the new combination treatment that we identified.