Paediatric Tumour Profiling
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Paediatric Tumour Profiling for Biomarker Development
IRAS ID
166920
Contact name
Louis Chesler
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Clinical R&D, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Many different alterations in the DNA of cancer cells have been described in paediatric tumours. Some alterations predict how aggressive a tumour is, helping stratify treatment, or help us to predict whether the tumour will respond to a specific targeted drug. More research to further characterise the biology of tumour cells will help us develop more specific drugs targeting the drivers of cancer.
Using next generation sequencing (NGS) we have designed the first paediatric solid tumour panel which detects over 80 different known genetic alterations, focusing on alterations that affect outcome and those which may be amenable to targeted therapy. This test will enable wide scale analysis of mutation status in paediatric tumours and will identify children who may be eligible for a clinical trial of a targeted agent at relapse/progression.
In the Paediatric Tumour profiling study, we will evaluate tumour tissue taken at the time of routine diagnostic biopsy or surgery. The first priority will be testing with the NGS panel. The results of this test will be recorded in the patient notes as in some patients the results may provide information which affects treatment. Some patients whose tumour relapses or progresses may also be offered an additional biopsy at this time if doctors feel it is safe and will help decide whether targeted therapies could be effective.
In addition to NGS panel testing we will also perform additional research on tumour tissue, blood samples and in some cases, samples from bone marrow biopsies or lumbar punctures. Samples would only be taken at the time of routine procedures and all of these samples would be anonymous. The research on these samples would focus on better characterising the biology of tumours including discovering new mutations and drivers of cancer and developing less invasive tests to characterise tumours in the future.REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0719
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jun 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion