Recipient: Dr Jason Cain
Institute: Hudson Institute of Medical Research
The Kids' Cancer Project Funding: $50,542 January 2022 – June 2023
Perpetual Funding: $89,930
Total Funding: $140,472
Sarcomas are among the most common types of solid tumours in children, adolescent and young adults (AYA).
Survival rates have remained stagnant for the last four decades. In other paediatric cancer types, molecular markers are being used at disease prognosis to revolutionise clinical treatment. This approach is lacking for sarcomas, highlighting the urgent need for new and improved targeted therapies for this disease.
This project, led by Dr Jason Cain, will use an extensive cohort of clinically defined childhood and AYA sarcoma tissues from patients treated at Monash Children’s Hospital and Royal Children’s Hospital (Victoria), to identify predictive markers of therapeutic response and survival. This would represent a major development in the field and enable the future risk stratification of patients and appropriate adaptation of therapy to minimise side effects and improve overall outcomes.