Experts from Cancer Research UK Children’s Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence in Cambridge, UK are set to share around £3.2 ($4.2) million to find and test better and less toxic ways to treat children’s brain tumours.

The funding announcement comes during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer death in children and those that do survive often face life-changing side effects as a result of their treatment.

Cancer Research UK launched the Centre of Excellence in 2018. It is a collaboration between the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, the University of Cambridge and The Institute of Cancer Research, London.

As a result, new treatment approaches for three of the most common types of children’s brain tumours are currently in development.

Plans for the new funding include using artificial intelligence and machine learning to create the world’s first entirely digital models of the hardest to treat children’s brain tumours. The models will be used to help identify new treatment targets, develop potential new drugs and test them via virtual clinical trials within computer models of cancer.

Co-Director of the Children’s Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence, Professor Richard Gilbertson, said: “Too many young lives are still lost to brain tumours. Cancer is different in children and young people than in adults, so it needs different and dedicated research. We aim to help revolutionise understanding of what makes these cancers tick and have set out, from the start, to design new drugs specifically to treat children’s disease.

“The progress we’ve made in such a short space of time has been remarkable. Now, with our latest multi-million pound boost, we’re looking forward to taking our work to the next level and bringing hope to more children and families affected by brain tumours.”

Diana Spencer, Senior Digital Content Editor, DDW