Children with brain cancer to be offered ‘kinder’ treatment
Hailed as one of the biggest breakthroughs in decades, NHS England have announced they will be offering children a new targeted drug therapy to tackle the disease.
Common side effects of chemotherapy include feeling and being sick, extreme fatigue, infections, bruising and hair loss – brutal experiences that children shouldn’t have to suffer. However, thanks to a new development in medicine, they won’t have to.
Gliomas are the most common type of brain cancer in children and can be treated with dabrafenib and trametinib which have been found to halt the growth of tumours for more than three times as long as standard chemotherapy for children with low-grade gliomas that have a specific genetic mutation.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) gave the drug therapy the greenlight after studies showed it caused fewer side-effects, improved children’s response rate to treatment and their survival time without the disease progressing.
Dr Michele Afif, the chief executive of the Brain Tumour Charity, said: ‘We are delighted that Nice has approved the first new treatment for paediatric brain tumours in decades.
‘Though this will only affect a small population, it is of huge significance to them and their loved ones and represents real progress. We hope that this will be the first of many new treatments that will ensure our community can live longer and better lives.’
The combination treatment, which will initially be available on the NHS in England for people aged one to 17 with low- or high-grade gliomas that have a BRAVF V600E mutation, can be administered at home rather than in hospital and it works by targeting the proteins made by the altered BRAF gene that are responsible for uncontrollable tumour growth.
Professor Peter Johnson, the NHS England national clinical director for cancer, said: ‘It is a significant step forward in treatment that has been shown to be easier to take than chemotherapy and very effective in blocking the growth of the disease, helping children have a better quality of life for longer.
‘It can also be taken at home, meaning children and teenagers can spend less time in hospital having treatment and more time with their loved ones and doing things they enjoy.’
Image: Milad Fakurian
Air pollution could contribute to dementia and brain ill-health, researchers claim