A genetic test developed by scientists in London is to be offered to hundreds of children with cancer across the UK.
Experts have hailed the move as an “exciting” step towards offering personalised treatment for young people with the disease.
The test, developed at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust, will initially be open to under-14s who have solid tumours.
It works by sequencing 81 different cancer genes and identifies key mutations in tumours.
The initiative is the first stage of a wider programme that aims to provide testing for all children with solid tumours, and direct them into clinical trials targeting particular mutations.
Initially, 400 children will be tested. Karen Capel, founder of charity Christopher’s Smile, which funded the development of the test, said: “There is an urgent need to provide new treatments for those children with the most aggressive and hard-to-treat cancers.
“This gene sequencing test is the key foundation stone in enabling personalised medicine for children. When our son [Christopher] died in 2008 there was no biological information available to clinicians about individual children’s tumours. This test is a first.”
