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Assorted News from the Last Week: The NCI Budget Fact Book summarizes the distribution of the fiscal year 2023 budget among the various NCI research programs and funding mechanisms, funding policies influencing grant awards, and comparisons with prior year allocations. Additional information on the NCI budget is accessible from the NCI home page. A collaborative study supported by the Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program (Kids First) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund, published today in the journal Nature, found that approximately 60% of the genetic changes driving T-ALL cancer cells are non-coding changes. Researchers announced a [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Lifestyle habits can alleviate the effects of cancer treatment in children. A study into precision medicine for high-risk Neuroblastoma has revealed encouraging results. The DNA methylome of pediatric brain tumors appears shaped by structural variation and predicts survival. Late-onset tumors in rhabdoid tumor predisposition syndrome type-1 (RTPS1) and implications for surveillance. Pharmacists have a crucial role in the treatment of sarcomas in the pediatric setting. Feel good story of the week: 224th Officer Basic Course (OBC) student at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School and his 4-year-old daughter Davey. Researchers identified genetic [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Congratulations to CAC2 Members Autumn Gentry (MACC Fund, Inc) and Mariah Forster Olson (Neuroblastoma Children's Cancer Society) with inspiration and guidance from CAC2 Board Member Ann Ramer on the publication of the Wisconsin Pediatric Cancer Action Plan. A tale of resilience: Physician fights Blue Cross of Idaho to cover her baby's brain cancer treatment with lorlatanib. The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program has started limited enrollment of children from birth through age 4 at five partner health care organizations across the country. Expanding participation to children offers researchers the [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: CAC2 Supporting Member Day One Biopharmaceutical and Ipsen unveiled an ex-U.S. licensing agreement for tovorafenib (approved as Ojemda in the U.S.) in pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG) and "any future indications developed by Day One" outside the U.S. Several CAC2 Members contributed to the recently published manuscript that was produced by the ACCELERATE Paediatric Strategy Forum for Medicinal Product Development of PI3 K-inhibitors. The FDA has accepted the resubmission of a biologics license application (BLA) seeking the approval of remestemcel-L (Ryoncil) for the treatment of pediatric patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-vs-host-disease (SR-aGVHD). It Mattered Later: [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Congratulations to CAC2 Supporting Organization Day One Biopharmaceuticals and CAC2 member authors and reviewers who contributed to the white paper “Advancing Pediatric Cancer Research and Drug Development through Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: A Framework Based on the Tovorafenib Journey.” Read about the collaborative effort that made this paper possible on the CAC2 Collaborative Achievement Blog. More frequent use of genetic testing in pediatric oncology, along with the application of advanced testing methods, holds great promise for identifying patients with CPS as well as detecting somatic variants that inform diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. The FDA has granted [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Psychological and ethical issues raised by genomic testing in paediatric care pathway, a qualitative analysis with parents and childhood cancer patients. Immuno-oncologic profiling of pediatric brain tumors reveals major clinical significance of the tumor immune microenvironment. CAR-T therapy, which harnesses a person’s own immune cells, racks up some astonishing success stories against deadly brain tumours in children. Researchers has identified and located a population of stem-like cells that initiates and maintains Group 3 medulloblastoma (Gr3-MB) in the developing brain. They showed that eliminating the small population of stem-like cells present in Gr3-MB tumors led [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Building a case for incorporating patient advocates throughout the research continuum in pediatric oncology. The NCI Council of Research Advocates met virtually on June 26 and heard the latest legislative report, with updates on appropriations, cancer-related legislation, and other ways that NCI is engaging and advocating. An article in support of the Creating Hope Reauthorization Act: "The rare pediatric disease voucher program creates new treatments. I have new data to prove it." Benefits for children with suspected cancer from routine whole-genome sequencing. Upcoming Webinars, Online Opportunities, and Meetings: 56th Congress of the International Society [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: AWS is providing $10 million to accelerate research for pediatric health care and to better understand rare diseases, including $1 million to the Children's Brain Tumor Network. Novartis announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Lutathera for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) for pediatric patients. JAMA Pediatrics explores the important role that patient advocates play in pediatric oncology. Abstract (will post full article when available). A Children's Oncology Group study concluded that adding the mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus (Torisel) to chemotherapy in the first-line setting failed to improve event-free survival [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: CAC2 Supporting Organization Member Day One Biopharmaceuticals announced it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with MabCare Therapeutics for MTX-13, a novel antibody drug conjugate (ADC) targeting protein-tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) which is overexpressed in in neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and osteosarcoma in children, as well as esophageal, ovarian, lung and endometrial cancers among adults. Blinatumomab (Blincyto; Amgen) received FDA approval for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with CD19-positive Philadelphia chromosome-negative B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). FDA grants rare paediatric disease designation to Race Oncology's RC220 bisantrene for the treatment of pediatric [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Bristol Myers Squibb's Augtyro (repotrectinib) has secured an accelerated approval from the FDA for the treatment of adult and paediatric patients aged 12 years and older with solid tumours harbouring NTRK gene fusions. Researchers found that DIPG tumors' metabolism differs from adult brain tumors, a key to understanding treatment resistance in this aggressive form of pediatric brain cancer. A discussion of the question: "Is it appropriate to enroll children and adolescents in end-of-life clinical studies?" A virtual peer support program created at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) has shown significant potential in helping [...] Read more