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The WA Kids Cancer Centre has a suite of world-leading research projects to unlock new treatments for childhood cancers.
Leukaemia, also spelled leukemia, is a cancer that develops in the bone marrow and results in abnormal white blood cells. It is the most common cancer in children, accounting for almost a third of all childhood & teen cancers.
DNA methylation-based classification is now central to contemporary neuro-oncology, as highlighted by the World Health Organization classification of central nervous system tumors. This expansion is a result of newly identified tumor types discovered through our large online repository and global collaborations, underscoring CNS tumor heterogeneity.
Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) evokes antitumor immunity through the reinvigoration of T cell responses. T cell differentiation status controls response, with less differentiated cells having an enhanced capacity to proliferate after ICB. Given that conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1) maintain precursor exhausted T cells (TPEX), we hypothesized that expansion of cDC1s with Flt3L could enhance responses to ICB.
CD8+ T cells are an important weapon in the therapeutic armamentarium against cancer. While CD8+CD103+ T cells with a tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cell phenotype are associated with favorable prognoses, the tumor microenvironment also contains dysfunctional exhausted T (TEX) cells that exhibit a variety of TRM-like features.
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common paediatric malignancy and remains one of the most common causes of cancer-related death in children and adolescents. It is characterised by the proliferation of immature lymphoid cells capable of infiltrating bone marrow, blood and extramedullary sites. Five-year overall survival rates exceed 90% with current multidrug chemotherapeutic regimens. This manuscript reviews the abdominal imaging features of leukaemic infiltration in children with ALL at the time of initial diagnosis and following relapse.
Chemotherapy often kills a large fraction of cancer cells but leaves behind a small population of drug-tolerant persister cells. These persister cells survive drug treatments through reversible, non-genetic mechanisms and cause tumour recurrence upon cessation of therapy. Here, we report a drug tolerance mechanism regulated by the germ-cell-specific H3K4 methyltransferase PRDM9.
Osteoclasts are important regulators of bone remodeling, with an established role in maintaining skeletal homeostasis. The emergence of osteoimmunology has identified osteoclasts as key players in the immune system. In particular, osteoclasts can initiate bi-directional crosstalk mechanisms with hematopoietic stem cells and various immune cells, such as T cells, B cells and NK cells, to influence hematopoiesis and inflammatory response.
The success of cancer immunotherapies has highlighted the importance of monitoring the anti-tumour T cell response. Patients with mesothelioma frequently present with a malignant pleural effusion (MPE) that is commonly drained regularly to alleviate symptoms. As MPE contains tumour cells, T cells and cytokines, it provides a unique opportunity to sample immune events at the tumour site.
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is a prominent ligand-inducible transcription factor involved in adipocyte differentiation, glucose homeostasis, insulin sensitivity, inflammation, and cell proliferation, making it a therapeutic target for diabetes, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune diseases, and cancer.