Search

News & Events

The Cancer Immunology team at The Kids is investigating how the body's 'natural killer' cells can be harnessed to fight cancer – whilst also protecting kids from nasty chemotherapy side effects.

Research

Infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is characterized by a high incidence of KMT2A gene rearrangements and poor outcome. We evaluated the value of minimal residual disease (MRD) in infants with KMT2A-rearranged ALL treated within the Interfant-06 protocol, which compared lymphoid-style consolidation (protocol IB) versus myeloid-style consolidation (araC, daunorubicin, etoposide/mitoxantrone, araC, etoposide).

Research

Both tumour suppressive and oncogenic functions have been reported for dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A). Herein, we performed a detailed investigation to delineate the role of DYRK1A in glioblastoma. Our phosphoproteomic and mechanistic studies show that DYRK1A induces degradation of cyclin B by phosphorylating CDC23, which is necessary for the function of the anaphase-promoting complex, a ubiquitin ligase that degrades mitotic proteins.

Research

Infants with KMT2A-rearranged B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have poor outcomes. There is an urgent need to identify novel agents to improve survival. Proteasome inhibition has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for several hematological malignancies. The aim of this study was to determine the preclinical efficacy of the selective proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib, for infants with KMT2A-rearranged ALL.

Research

Infants with KMT2A-rearranged B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have poor outcomes. There is an urgent need to identify novel agents to improve survival. Proteasome inhibition has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for several hematological malignancies. The aim of this study was to determine the preclinical efficacy of the selective proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib, for infants with KMT2A-rearranged ALL.

News & Events

In an Australian-first, The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers have developed a new tool that could improve outcomes for children with a highly aggressive type of brain cancer.

Research

Structural and numerical alterations of chromosome 21 are extremely common in hematological malignancies. While the functional impact of chimeric transcripts from fused chromosome 21 genes such as TEL-AML1, AML1-ETO, or FUS-ERG have been extensively studied, the role of gain of chromosome 21 remains largely unknown.

Research

The bone marrow microenvironment (BMM) plays a key role in leukemia progression, but its molecular complexity in pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), the most common cancer in children, remains poorly understood. To gain further insight, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the kinetics of the murine BMM during B-ALL progression.

Research

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality for immunocompromised children, particularly for patients with acute leukaemia and those undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Timely diagnosis, using a combination of computed tomography (CT) imaging and microbiological testing, is key to improve prognosis, yet there are inherent challenges in this process. For CT imaging, changes in children are generally less specific than those reported in adults and recent data are limited.

News & Events

The Kids researchers will use nearly $8.5 million awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to tackle health issues including respiratory disease, brain cancer, vaccination and Aboriginal health.