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The solution to Charli McCabe’s ordeal with leukaemia was not found by chance. It was made possible by the donations made to The Kids’ Cancer Project – donations that went on to fund the world’s most innovative childhood cancer treatment program.
To understand how a solution was found, we must first understand why.
Childhood cancer treatment was a ‘one-size-fits-all' approach for a very long time. Because it is so rare and so difficult to treat, it was hard for oncologists to use any other therapies. A lack of resources was just a fact of life.
Unfortunately, it meant that a lot of children never beat their cancer or had to live with side effects from chemotherapy and radiation that could’ve been avoided.
Precision medicine is the opposite to the one-size-fits-all approach. It investigates a child’s genetics, their environment and lifestyle to ensure they get the best treatment possible.
Where precision medicine also differs is that children can access adult cancer drugs developed by large pharmaceutical companies, depending on the makeup of their cancer. Most importantly, in a lot of cases, precision medicine is a more effective and less harmful approach for children compared to older treatments, especially when used alongside targeted therapies.
It’s all about giving children the best chance of a healthier life after cancer. In Australia, that approach was created with a world-first program designed to give every child with cancer access to precision medicine.
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That program is called ZERO Childhood Cancer. Originating from the Children’s Cancer Institute, it has helped thousands of Australian children with cancer. Charli McCabe is one of them.
The Kids’ Cancer Project’s initial $200,000 grant made the program’s first pilot studies possible. The ZERO team were then able to demonstrate the project’s effectiveness, which led to a three-year national trial being set up and implemented in 2017.
The trial focused on children and young adults from the ages of 0-21 with high risk, rare and/or relapsed cancers that were given a 30% chance of survival or less.
Within that trial, 32% of children received treatment based on ZERO’s recommendations, and a third of those saw their tumours shrink, with some even fully regressing! In a further 40% of patients, the tumour stopped growing and remained stable.
Charli McCabe was the beneficiary of the ZERO program, as were hundreds of children, made possible by funding from The Kids’ Cancer Project.
Charli’s oncology team were certain that chemotherapy would rid the two-year-old of leukaemia. Each time, the cancer would remain unbeaten. After four horrific blocks – with all the side effects as well – they were forced to look elsewhere.
ZERO Childhood Cancer’s programs at the time studied a child’s DNA. Through assessing Charli’s own strands, they found clues as to what would help her. A special immunotherapy was given to the little one, and within months she was cancer free.
The results from that three-year trial led to the Federal Government investing $67 million into ZERO when Scott Morrison was Prime Minister. Another $112 million was contributed by the Albanese Government in 2025 to include adolescents and young adults up to the age of 40. The Minderoo Foundation has also contributed to ZERO, to the tune of $17.2 million, which includes cash for clinical trials and funds to support the program expanding into hospitals and online.
The $200,000 initial investment The Kids’ Cancer Project made is what paved the way for nearly $200 million in investment.
The Kids’ Cancer Project aims to seed fund projects to get them off the ground, to show the government and other organisations that they are worth the money.
ZERO Childhood Cancer is evidence of that. Charli McCabe’s survival is too.
You can continue to change the story for kids with cancer with a tax-deductible donation made to The Kids’ Cancer Project by 30 June.
It also means you can claim it back within weeks!
Atax-deductible donation made before 30 June will ensure we can continue to change the story for kids with cancer like Charli.
