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Cancers in children are very different from cancers in adults - in most cases they appear to strike simply at random. They also develop differently and can spread more rapidly and aggressively. And because cancers in children are not obviously linked to their lifestyles, much work is needed to pinpoint their cause.
Esophageal cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy with a low response to standard anti-cancer therapies. There is an unmet need to develop new therapeutic strategies to improve the clinical outcomes of current treatments. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a promising approach for cancer treatment, and has displayed anticancer efficacy in multiple preclinical models. Recent studies have shown that the efficacy of CAP is positively correlated with intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.
Supratentorial RELA fusion (ST-RELA) ependymomas (EPNs) are resistant tumors without an approved chemotherapeutic treatment. Unfortunately, the molecular mechanisms that lead to chemoresistance traits of ST-RELA remain elusive. The aim of this study was to assess RELA fusion-dependent signaling modules, specifically the role of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway as a novel targetable vulnerability in ST-RELA.
Molecular profiling of the tumour immune microenvironment (TIME) has enabled the rational choice of immunotherapies in some adult cancers. In contrast, the TIME of paediatric cancers is relatively unexplored. We speculated that a more refined appreciation of the TIME in childhood cancers, rather than a reliance on commonly used biomarkers such as tumour mutation burden (TMB), neoantigen load and PD-L1 expression, is an essential prerequisite for improved immunotherapies in childhood solid cancers.
Cancer continues to be a leading cause of death globally. However, there remains a significant disparity in the reported incidence of cancer in developed countries, estimated to be 295.3 cases per 100,000 people, compared with only 115.7 in developing countries. Some of the reasons for this variation include lack of robust data collection with limited reporting systems, and insufficient data availability in the registries of these developing nations.
Research has shown differences in how fathers and mothers respond to a child's cancer diagnosis. Previous studies have highlighted that sociocultural norm shape fathers' experiences of their child's cancer diagnosis. Our phenomenological qualitative study aimed to examine the lived experiences of fathers whose children have been diagnosed with cancer and explore the impact of sociocultural gender roles.
T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) is a rare and aggressive lymphatic cancer, often diagnosed at a young age. Patients are treated with intensive chemotherapy, potentially followed by a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Although prognosis of T-LBL has improved with intensified treatment protocols, they are associated with side effects and 10-20% of patients still die from relapsed or refractory disease. Given this, the search toward less toxic anti-lymphoma therapies is ongoing.
Event-free survival considers other adverse events in addition to mortality. It therefore provides a more complete understanding of the effectiveness and consequences of treatment than standard survival measures, but is rarely reported at the population level for childhood cancer.
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is the most common childhood malignancy that remains a leading cause of death in childhood. It may be characterised by multiple known recurrent genetic aberrations that inform prognosis, the most common being hyperdiploidy.
Children receiving treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are at high risk of invasive fungal disease (IFD). Evidence from pediatric studies support the efficacy of antifungal prophylaxis in reducing the burden of IFD in children receiving therapy for AML, yet existing antifungal agents have specific limitations and comparative data to inform the optimal prophylactic approach are lacking.