New clinical trial for children with brain cancer

This week The Children’s Hospital at Westmead announced a clinical trial for children who are newly diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a rare and aggressive brain cancer.

Around 20 children are diagnosed with DIPG each year, with the average patient surviving just nine months after diagnosis.

Funded by the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and the Isabella and Marcus Foundation, all patients who are newly diagnosed with DIPG will be eligible to be considered for the trial.

Biomede is the first adaptive clinical trial in Australia to analyse a child’s tumour to identify which of the three drugs approved for the trial (erlotinib, everolimus and dasatinib) is most likely to be effective.

This precision medicine approach means the majority of trial participants will receive tailored treatment, based on the genetic profile of their tumour.

The trial's flexible 'adaptive' nature also means that new drugs can be added to the trial if they show increased promise.

Eligible patients can enrol on Biomede at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney now, with further trial sites to open in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand.

If you are interested in participating in the trial please talk to your child’s clinician.

Pictured (L to R): Barrie Littlefield (Cure Brain Cancer Foundation), Robert and Khush De Rose (Isabella and Marcus Foundation), Dr Geoff McCowage (The Children's Hospital at Westmead) and Michelle Stewart (Cure Brain Cancer Foundation)