Finding the 'cancer' gene in young children

George

You’ve probably never heard of the type of cancer that George had because it’s very rare.  But neuroblastoma is the cancer which kills more children under the age of 4 than any other.

It particularly attacks the cells that are involved in the development of the nervous system and tumours often start just above the kidney in the adrenal gland.

George spent 80% of his life in hospital after being diagnosed in 2005.  He had a great deal of chemotherapy and had to have a kidney removed because of the tumour growing on it.

Sadly, the cancer spread and George lost his fight for life in January 2008 at the age of 9.

Jeans for Genes gave a grant to scientists working for the charity SPARKS who wanted to solve the puzzle of a key gene involved in neuroblastoma.  It’s called the ApoJ clusterin gene. 

Previous research found that tumours were able to grow when children were missing the ApoJ clusterion gene.  But other research found that tumours grew faster when children DID have the gene.

Dr Arturo Sala and his team at the Institute of Child Health in London think they’ve found the answer.  Their research suggests that tumours grow faster in children who don’t have the gene.  They’ve got to do more work to confirm their findings and then Dr Sala wants to find if the gene alters the effectiveness of drugs being used to treat neuroblastoma.