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Assorted news from last week: The White House announced the reigniting of the Cancer Moonshot on February 2.  Two prominent items related to the childhood cancer community: To speed progress against the most deadly and rare cancers, including childhood cancers — Today, we know cancer as a disease for which we lack good strategies for developing treatments against many of the more than 200 distinct types. We can invest in a robust pipeline for new treatments, and the COVID-19 pandemic response has demonstrated we can accelerate clinical trials without compromising safety and effectiveness. To support patients, caregivers, and survivors — Today, we [...] Read more

Assorted news from last week: Retinoblastoma treatment outcomes have improved globally over the past four decades but large disparities persist between higher-income and lower-income countries, with some areas having major survival gaps. Targeted health-care policy making with increased health-care financing and accessibility are needed in low-income and lower-middle-income countries to improve retinoblastoma outcomes worldwide. Scientists at the Princess Máxima Center compared the effectiveness of RNA sequencing with traditional methods that allow you to specifically search the DNA and RNA for known gene changes. Using RNA sequencing, the team picked out 40% more than they found using traditional techniques. Wiley online [...] Read more

Assorted news from the last two weeks: Adolescents and young adult cancer survivors are more likely to have psychological distress and additional annual medical expenses than adults with no history of cancer, according to a study published in Cancer. The FDA has granted both Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and Orphan Drug Designation Lantern Pharma’s drug candidate LP-184 for the treatment of pediatric patients with ATRT. Two anti-cancer antibodies have a much stronger effect against pediatric nerve-cell and bone cancers in mice than either one alone, researchers have discovered. The Spanish perspective:  The future of pediatric oncology lies in precision medicine. […]

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Assorted news from the last two weeks: Children with chronic health conditions, including cancer, and those with special education needs, should receive more help with online learning. Allarity Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel oncology therapeutics together with drug-specific DRP® companion diagnostics for personalized cancer care, and Oncoheroes Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing new therapies for childhood cancers, today announced that they have entered into licensing agreements under which Oncoheroes will acquire exclusive, global development rights to Allarity’s therapeutic candidates dovitinib, a pan-targeted kinase inhibitor (pan-TKI), and stenoparib, a PARP inhibitor, and assume responsibility for their […]

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Assorted news from the last two weeks: The FDA has granted rare pediatric disease designation to IMX-110 for the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma, a life-threatening cancer found in children. This designation makes IMX-110 eligible for a fast track designation and a priority review designation in the future, according to a press release by Immix Biopharma, Inc. FDA-approved TRK inhibitors entrectinib and larotrectinib have demonstrated safety and efficacy in treating a variety of solid tumors in pediatric and adult cancer patients. The FDA granted orphan drug designation to silmitasertib for treatment of medulloblastoma. A molecular building block of many animal proteins, the amino […]

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Assorted news from last week: From the Lancet: Adolescent and young adult cancers contributed substantially to the overall adolescent and young adult disease burden globally in 2019. These results provide new insights into the distribution and magnitude of the adolescent and young adult cancer burden around the world.  An immunotherapy harnessing the immune system’s “natural killer” cells has proven effective in treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in some adults whose cancers return. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown, in a small clinical trial, that the same natural killer cells also can help some […]

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Assorted news from last week: Adding a novel anti-GD2 antibody (hu14.18K322A) to induction chemotherapy for children with newly diagnosed high-risk neuroblastoma yielded impressive survival outcomes and improved early responses versus historical benchmarks, investigators reported. Researchers have developed a test that detects specific changes in DNA fragments, or cell-free DNA, shed from medulloblastoma tumor cells into the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, known as the cerebrospinal fluid.  Based on their findings from a recent study, the researchers believe this test could potentially be used to identify children who, shortly after completing treatment, still have evidence of cancer—known as residual [...] Read more

Assorted news from last week: According to Jim Morris, investigative reporter for Public Health Watch, “for the foreseeable future, thousands of children will continue to be diagnosed with cancer each year and require treatment. But unless the drug-development process undergoes a significant transformation, they will remain a lower priority than adults.” The FDA approves Rituximab Plus chemotherapy for pediatric patients (≥6 months to <18 years) with previously untreated, advanced stage, CD20-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), Burkitt lymphoma (BL), Burkitt-like lymphoma (BLL), or mature B-cell acute leukemia (B-AL). “Mariah Forster Olson’s treatment for childhood cancer left her with a range […]

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Assorted news from last week: A primer on where the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services see Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) heading in the future. Based on a Health Affairs commentary from Brooks-LaSure and Tsai, the three key priority areas are (1) coverage and access, (2) equity, and (3) innovation and whole-person care. CAC2 Supporting Organization Oncoheroes Biosciences has been awarded to be part of the 1st generation of companies accelerated in the #BCNHealthBooster, an initiative promoted by the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB) of Universitat de Barcelona and BarcelonaCityCouncil, with the collaboration of Barcelona Activa […]

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Assorted news from last week: Provocative article written by pediatric cancer advocates, including several CAC2 members — innovation can be crippled by commercialization — meaning next better treatments are completely at the mercy of companies who now have income from drug sales from approved drugs and may not agree to provide the drug for further testing in combinations, etc. To encourage drug companies (sponsors) to develop effective treatments for childhood cancer, authorities in the United States (US) and Europe have made new rules for drug development, and this team from Pfizer has some recommendations to help sponsors maximize their chances of […]

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