Australian scientists treating the most common form of childhood cancer have made an important breakthrough in understanding what drives it to grow.
Children with neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system, are often diagnosed once the cancer is already advanced.
While survival rates for most childhood cancers are quite high, neuroblastoma survival rates are around 50 per cent and have not improved for a decade.
Professor Glenn Marshall from the Children’s Cancer Institute and his team have discovered a gene linked to the cause of neuroblastoma that could provide new targets for cancer therapy.
The team’s work has shown that junk DNA is involved in causing neuroblastoma.
Dr Tao Lui from the Children’s Cancer Institute discovered that a new long non-coding RNA plays an important part in the formation of neuroblastoma tumours.
“I started researching a particular RNA that didn’t yet have a name, as it had never been studied before,” he said.
Dr Lui said a study of neuroblastoma tumours showed a direct link between poor survival rates and a higher level of this particular RNA.
Scientists already know that another gene, MYCN, contributes to the progression of neuroblastoma.
Discovery could lead to new targeted treatments
Professor Marshall says his team is already testing a potential treatments in the laboratory, based on the discovery.
“Dr Lui’s study has improved our understanding of what leads to the development of neuroblastoma and uncovered another potential target for this rare but devastating illness,” he said.
The research has been published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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