Brain cancer kills more Australian children than any other disease. Furthermore, brain cancer survivors suffer debilitating life-long side effects caused by the current treatment and therapies. Remarkably, immunotherapies have increased survival for several adult cancers, but this is not yet true for childhood brain cancer. Immunotherapies utilise the patient’s immune system to fight cancer and are less toxic compared to chemotherapy and radiotherapy which in many cases is standard of care.
The Telethon Kids Institute team have identified a new immunotherapy that activates brain-resident immune cells (microglia) to fight cancer. The project will test to ensure efficacy of the immunotherapy before using it clinically in the paediatric brain and examine if there are long-term consequences to the normal brain. The new knowledge gained, on the actions and long-term safety of this brain-specific immunotherapy, will facilitate clinical implementation to provide new treatment options for children.