New Hope for Children with Pediatric Sarcomas: Groundbreaking Clinical Trial at Children's National Hospital

Years of effort to combat pediatric cancers have led to a groundbreaking clinical trial at Children's National Hospital, where researchers are about to start recruiting children with pediatric sarcomas and other solid tumors to test a new, innovative approach to cancer treatment. The trial will use an inventive new technique to combat one of the most persistent problems in cancer care, where cancer cells develop a way to escape chemotherapy and radiation. Catherine Bollard, senior vice president and chief research officer at Children's National Hospital, says that for 30 years, progress on children's solid tumors has been "dismal" compared to advances in adult cancer treatments. The new trial will target two specific proteins on the children's tumors at once, making it harder for the cancer cells to evade the treatment.

Key Takeaways:

• The clinical trial at Children's National Hospital will test a new treatment method that targets two proteins on the children's tumors simultaneously, making it harder for the cancer cells to escape.
• The trial will include 12 children with pediatric sarcomas and other solid tumors that have resisted chemotherapy and radiation.
• The new treatment uses T cells, specially engineered to counter cancer's skill in escaping medicines, and will attack the cancer cells from two different angles.
• The researchers hope that this innovative approach will lead to a significant improvement in the survival rate for children with pediatric sarcomas.
• The clinical trial is part of a $470 million project called Cancer Grand Challenges, launched in 2020 by the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK.

Statistics:

• 3,700 new cases of pediatric solid tumors are recorded in the United States each year.
• About 1,000 cases of osteosarcoma, a rare bone tumor, are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, about half in children.
• The treatment for psychosocial oncology/psycho-oncology services at the big cancer centers costs between $0.50 to $10.00.
• 54 rounds of chemotherapy, seven different kinds, were endured by Abbe Pannucci, a patient who survived stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma.

Sources:

• "Cancer Grand Challenges" program launched in 2020 by the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK.
• "The treatment will attack two targets on the children's tumors simultaneously: one called PRAME, a protein that promotes tumor growth, and the other B7-H3, a protein that helps cancer evade the immune system." By Catherine Bollard.
• "Children's National Hospital poised to start recruiting children for clinical trial on pediatric sarcomas" published in "The Washington Post".