CC Community News Digest (January 18-24)

Assorted news from the last week:

Sadly, as the 2020 Childhood Cancer Prevention Report confirms, childhood cancer incidence rates, the number of new cases per 1,000 children, have steadily increased over the last few decades across all racial/ethnic groups. Cancer is now responsible for more than half of all childhood and teenage deaths, making this study all the more urgent.

The Houston Chronicle reports: “Another cancer cluster in Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens has been identified by a state investigation in a newly released report, which found that children contracted leukemia at nearly five times the expected rate of the general population.”

From the NCI: A new resource can help young people find support after a cancer diagnosis and during cancer treatment.

International Childhood Cancer Awareness Day is coming on February 15.

An analysis of children and adolescents from 49 different countries pointed to widespread overdiagnosis of thyroid cancer — similar to that seen in adults. “We suggest that the existing recommendation against screening for thyroid cancer in the asymptomatic adult population who are free from specific risk factors should be extended to explicitly recommend against screening for thyroid cancer in similar populations of children and adolescents,” the researchers wrote in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

A group of scientists at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have developed a modified version of CAR T that shows promise in targeting neuroblastoma, spares healthy brain tissue and more effectively kills cancer cells.

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are using an innovative approach that combines pharmacology and systems biology tools to identify the next generation of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatments. They found that dasatinib, already approved to treat B Cell ALL (B-ALL), may also be effective in T Cell ALL (T-ALL). Their approach highlighted the importance of looking beyond genetics to suggest new therapies. The work was published online today in Nature Cancer.

Canadian data science builds model to predict and prevent adverse drug reactions in children with cancer.

Upcoming Webinars and Online Opportunities:

Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (VA10) will host a Facebook Live Roundtable exploring the impact of the Gabriella Miller Kids First 2.0 bill that she will introduce as her first bill in the 117th Congress.  Join her Facebook feed at 11:00ET on Tuesday, January 26.