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What did the project achieve?
“We have shown that measuring the levels of certain biological substances, in particular glutamine and lipids, in children’s brain tumour tissue can indicate how aggressive their cancer is likely to be,” says Professor Andrew Peet of the University of Birmingham.
“As these substances can readily be measured using a non-invasive brain scanning technique, this work is already helping inform more personalised treatment for children with brain cancer – and has also opened new research avenues that could help pave the way to effective new treatments in the future.”
Around 400 children are diagnosed with brain cancer each year in the UK.1 Many will face prolonged and gruelling treatment with surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. While treatment can be life-saving, it can also cause serious, long-term side effects – making it vital to get the balance right. Having the ability to predict the aggressiveness of a child’s tumour would help doctors to decide on the best course of treatment for them.
Professor Peet measured the levels of various biological substances in brain tumour samples collected from children during surgery – and investigated whether any of these markers could predict the outcomes of treatment.
“We found that the levels of lipids and glutamine are strongly linked with survival, with lipids being a marker of aggressive tumours while glutamine is protective,” says Professor Peet. “We also have initial evidence to suggest measuring these substances can also predict relapse in children with slow-growing brain tumours, which are often very challenging to cure.”
Using an MRI scanner, it is possible to directly and accurately measure the levels of glutamine and lipids in brain tumours during routine scans. This non-invasive method is particularly beneficial for children who would not ordinarily undergo a biopsy because their tumour is growing in a particularly sensitive location, such as the brain stem.
“In this way, tumour lipid levels are already being used clinically for the benefit of patients – and we have worked with an international consortium to provide recommendations that should allow glutamine levels to be detected routinely,” says Professor Peet. “By providing earlier and more accurate information about the aggressiveness of a child’s tumour, this will help doctors to tailor a child’s treatment accordingly – achieving the best chance of success while minimising the risk of long-term side effects.”
Discovering that certain substances are important in children’s brain tumour growth is also stimulating new programmes of research worldwide. By investigating the underlying mechanisms and exploring how to target these pathways, this promising new avenue of research has the potential to lead to highly effective new treatment options for children affected by these cancers in the future.
Reference
- Cancer Research UK: About children’s brain tumours. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/childrens-cancer/brain-tumours/about [website accessed 13 February 2025]
This research was completed on
Every year in the UK, around 400 children are diagnosed with brain cancer.1.2 Many face prolonged and gruelling treatment with surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. While treatment can prove life-saving, it can also cause serious, long-term side effects, so it’s important to get the balance right. Professor Andrew Peet, of the University of Birmingham, is developing a way to tailor treatment more closely to the needs of each individual child. He believes this could save the lives of children with the most aggressive tumours and spare those with less severe illness from unnecessary treatments.
This project is jointly funded by Action Medical Research and The Brain Tumour Charity.
How are children’s lives affected now?
“A diagnosis of brain cancer is devastating – not just for the child himself, or herself, but for the whole family,” explains Professor Peet. “Going through treatment is really tough. It completely changes children’s lives over months or even years.”
Sadly, around one in every four children diagnosed with a brain tumour lose their lives within five years,3 making brain tumours the most deadly of all childhood cancers.4
“Children who make it through treatment remain at risk of experiencing long-term problems,” continues Professor Peet. “They can have difficulties with movement, balance and coordination, and with learning, hearing and vision, for example. This can be due to pre-existing problems and the tumour itself – but it can also be a side effect of treatment.”
With so much at stake, we need to ensure all children with brain tumours get the best possible treatment and information5 for them and their families..
How could this research help?
“Children with brain cancer have MRI scans routinely when they are first diagnosed,” explains Professor Peet. “The scans provide highly detailed pictures of tumours inside the brain. We are developing a way to get even more from MRI scans, using a sophisticated technique that provides information on the chemical make-up of tumours. We believe this information could be of great value, because it could enable us to predict how aggressive each child’s cancer is likely to be much sooner and more accurately.”
“Early information about a child’s outlook for the future would enable us to tailor treatment more closely to his, or her, individual needs,” says Professor Peet. “Children with the most aggressive tumours could immediately be given the most intensive treatment, which could boost their chances of survival. Children whose tumours are not so life-threatening could be given less intensive treatment, sparing them from some of the lifelong disabilities that treatment can cause.”
References
1. Macmillan. Brain tumours in children. http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertypes/Childrenscance... Website accessed 16 October 2013.
2. Cancer Research UK. Brain tumour risks and causes. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/type/brain-tumour/about/brai... Website accessed 16 October 2013.
3. Medline Plus, Brain tumour – children http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000768.htm Website accessed 16 October 2013.
4. Childhood cancer mortality statistics. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/childhoodcancer/... Website accessed 8 November 2013.
5. The Brain Tumour Charity: Information about living with childhood brain tumours, their diagnosis and treatment. http://www.thebraintumourcharity.org/support-information/Information-new... Website accessed 27 November 2013
| Project Leader | Professor A C Peet PhD FRCPCH |
| Project Team | Dr N P Davies PhD MIPEM CSciDr M P Wilson PhDDr T N Arvanitis PhD |
| Project Location | School of Cancer Sciences, University of Birmingham |
| Project Location Other | Birmingham Children's Hospital, Electronic, Electrical and Computer EngineeringUniversity of Birmingham and Department of Medical Physics, University Hospitals Birmingham |
| Project duration | 3 years |
| Date awarded | 14 August 2013 |
| Project start date | 13 January 2014 |
| Project end date | 1 October 2021 |
| Grant amount | £194,548 |
| Grant code | GN2181 |
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