Study authors Dr. Philipp Lange, Amanda Lorentzian and Dr. Chris Maxwell (Photo Credit: UBC Faculty of Medicine)
Scientists at the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital are the first in Canada to use a new test for pediatric tumour analysis that may one day guide personalized treatments for children with cancer.
Working with researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, the team analyzed 28 childhood tumour samples from nine cancer types archived in the BC Children’s Hospital Biobank.
They found that the pediatric cancer-focused test found more genetic mutations per sample compared with tests used to analyze adult cancers, and better identified weaknesses that can potentially be targeted with drugs.
