Assorted News from the Last Week: A paper explaining NCI’s Childhood Cancer Data Initiative's (CCDI) accomplishments to date and discussing priorities for the future of the initiative was published last week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. NCI has also launched a large precision medicine cancer initiative to test the effectiveness of treating adults and children with new drug combinations that target specific tumor alterations. Known as the Combination Therapy Platform Trial with Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (ComboMATCH), the initiative is the largest of its kind to test combinations of cancer drugs guided by tumor biology. CAC2 Supporting Organization and [...] Read more

Happy Memorial Day! Assorted News from the Last Week: Researchers found that the probability of FDA approval within 10 years was 10.4%, but the probability of an investigational cancer drug attaining pediatric approval within 10 years was 1.4%. A cancer treatment collaboration between hospitals on the California/Mexico border aimed at improving survival by sharing knowledge, expertise, and resources among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) proved successful. Accumulation of chronic disease among childhood cancer survivors predicts early mortality. In 2006, the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) raised the minimum age at which patients could be assigned as having high-risk neuroblastoma from [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: About one-third of children and two-thirds of adults with relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma responded to single-agent lorlatinib. Bereaved parents prioritized satisfactory symptom management above all other aspects of end-of-life care for their children who died of cancer, study results showed. Lenalidomide is a safe and effective therapy for children with pilocytic astrocytomas and optic pathway gliomas. Delivering childhood cancer care in fragile and conflict settings: best practices from the occupied Palestine territory Upcoming Webinars, Online Opportunities, and Meetings: NCI’s Office of Advocacy Relations would like to invite you to the upcoming webinar, Introduction to [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Childhood cancer survivors have increased rates of late, major surgeries—Magnitude of the risk is "striking." As the US faces a near-record number of drug shortages, cancer treatments are among the hardest hit. The Pediatric Cancer Dependencies Accelerator project aims to identify and exploit genetic vulnerabilities in pediatric cancers to develop better treatments. Lenalidomide showed activity in children with pilocytic astrocytomas and optic pathway gliomas who did not respond to initial therapy. Pediatric and young adult patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) who did not respond to induction therapy had poorer outcomes vs those [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Analysis finds found that “excellent” survival outcomes were achieved in patients receiving reduced treatment for neuroblastoma as a result of reassignment to intermediate risk from high risk based on a change in the minimum age for high-risk disease classification in Children’s Oncology Group (COG) risk stratification. Study explores psychosocial needs of African American parents of children with cancer. Newly developed competencies for Pediatric Palliative Care psychologists highlight unique contributions to PPC patient care and research and provide a framework for highlighting psychology’s value in this emerging subspecialty. STAT interviews Emily Whitehead, of CAC2 Member [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Adding a postinduction course of blinatumomab (Blincyto) to chemotherapy appeared safe and highly effective for treating an aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in infants. The European Commission published the long-awaited proposal for the revision of the EU Pharmaceutical legislation, which also includes provisions on medicines for rare diseases and children.  Read the European Childhood Cancer community's joint statement about the revision. St. Jude study:  Children with pediatric brain tumors living with supportive environments had less cognitive decline than children living in neighborhoods with economic hardship. Although reproductive failure after cancer treatment in children [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who live in extreme poverty and were undergoing maintenance therapy faced an almost two-fold greater risk of relapse compared with kids who weren't as poor. Scientists at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) have created a liquid biopsy (LB) for pediatric solid tumors that can help diagnose specific types of cancer when traditional biopsies are not feasible. The combination of olaparib and the investigational ATR inhibitor ceralasertib induced antitumor responses in children and adolescents with DNA repair-deficient tumors in neuroblastoma patients. (free, but requires site registration) Results from a [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Cancer researchers continue to make progress in developing tests using liquid biopsies for pediatric solid tumors that could complement and even serve as an alternative to traditional tissue biopsies. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have outlined opportunities for achieving President Biden and First Lady Biden’s Cancer Moonshot℠ national goal of reducing the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years. In this Q&A, NCI Director Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., and Deputy Director for Clinical and Translational Research James H. Doroshow, M.D., talk about the challenges of clinical trials [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: From the Journal of Clinical Oncology:  "An optimized, agreed approach to the design and evaluation of early-phase pediatric combination trials will accelerate drug development and benefit all stakeholders, most importantly children and adolescents with cancer." Findings, published today in Nature Medicine, have led to a major amendment in a phase 3 Children’s Oncology Group (COG) clinical trial, which has incorporated lorlatinib for newly diagnosed ALK-driven high-risk neuroblastoma, as well as a planned amendment to the European phase 3 trial in collaboration with the International Society of Paediatric Oncology European Neuroblastoma (SIOPEN). Immunotherapy with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) [...] Read more

Assorted News from the Last Week: Melissa Jackson joins the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer as its new Executive Director. NCI Director Monica Bertagnolli announced the rollout of the National Cancer Plan which provides a comprehensive framework for this meaningful collaboration and unites us in acting on the vision President Biden and First Lady Biden set out in the Cancer Moonshot℠.. The Coalition Against Childhood Cancer will hold its 2023 Annual Summit.  Hosted by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and presented by Day One Biopharmaceuticals, this annual event reflects the CAC2 values and mission by providing top-notch educational programming, designing multiple opportunities [...] Read more