|  | Every year about 500 children are diagnosed with leukaemia.
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research is the leading investor of research into childhood leukaemia in the UK and we currently have over £14 million invested in 38 projects that focus specifically on leukaemia affecting children. They are looking at improving diagnosis and treatment, finding a cure and understanding the cause of leukaemia affecting children.
Improving treatment for children with leukaemia
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research funded researchers are pioneers in the critically important field of Minimal Residual Disease testing (MRD); our researchers have worked relentlessly on this for 20 years and it is now being tested across the country and has the potential to transform treatment of childhood leukaemia.
In Newcastle, we fund the internationally respected childhood leukaemia cytogenetics database, which collects, analyses and stores genetic information from hundreds of leukaemia patients. From these samples our researchers can identify different genetic abnormalities found in childhood leukaemia, enabling a more accurate diagnosis to be made. When combined with the MRD test doctors can give patients the best and most appropriate intensity of treatment from the start. This gives every child a much greater chance of survival and will help to reduce the burden of treatment on children.
In April 2007 Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research opened the UK’s only childhood leukaemia cell bank. Samples are taken from children who are entered into the MRD trial and stored, with their parents’ consent. As a result, for the first time ever researchers have access to large numbers of cell samples from leukaemia patients. By using high quality samples from a much greater range of patients than ever before, scientists can work more quickly and produce more accurate results. The ability to correlate data from the cytogenetics database and MRD studies with findings from research on the cell samples is unique and offers insights which could not be obtained in any other way.
Watch a film about the new MRD test here .
Finding the cause of childhood leukaemia
In York, the UK Childhood Cancer Study is the largest and most comprehensive investigation of childhood leukaemia and related cancers in the world. Professor Eve Roman and her team, at the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research funded Epidemiology and Genetics Unit, are looking at the causes of leukaemia – if we know what causes the cancer, then eventually we may be able to find out how to prevent it.
For the past 15 years Professor Mel Greaves has studied pairs of identical twins from around the world who both develop leukaemia, sometimes falling ill years apart. This research has shown that the first genetic abnormality which puts children at risk of developing leukaemia occurs in the womb. Professor Greaves is now researching what happens after a child's birth that triggers the development of leukaemia in some children but not in others.
Twins Olivia and Isabella played a vital part in a recent Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research study which has for the first time confirmed the existence of cancer stem cells in the most common form of childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Professor Tariq Enver and Professor Mel Greaves compared cells in the blood of identical twin girls Olivia, who was being treated for leukaemia, and her healthy sister Isabella. He found that both twins had the same genetically abnormal primitive cells in their blood. This breakthrough backs evidence that childhood ALL starts in the womb and could lead to future improvements in disease monitoring and treatment. Read the press release.
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"When our son George was diagnosed only six months old Michelle and I were devastated. Luckily, he survived and is now a healthy teenager.
I know that the work of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research scientists helped save his life.
You too can help by making a donation, taking part in an event, ranging from cycling, other sports or volunteering.
I hope you can join me and thousands of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research supporters in our fight against leukaemia and other blood cancers".
Gary Lineker
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