Australian doctors are pioneering a world-first treatment for an incurable and rare type of childhood cancer, with a clinical trial underway in Sydney.
The trial into the fatal brain cancer known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is taking place at Sydney Children's Hospital where doctors are using patients' own immune systems to specifically target the disease.
Known as CAR-T cell therapy, the innovative approach to fighting the childhood disease - one of the only cancers that still lacks effective treatment - works to diffuse "midline glioma tumours" through modified T-cell therapy, a form of immunotherapy.
In DIPG, fast-growing and incurable tumour forms in parts of the brain stem responsible for functions like breathing, sleeping, bladder control and balance.
Around 20 Australian children are diagnosed with DIPG each year, with most dying within 12 months of developing the "most aggressive" of all childhood cancers.
Clinical trial lead Professor David Ziegler said the trial, named Levi's Catch after eight-year-old Levi Wheeler who died from the cancer in 2018 , taught a patient's own cells to attack the tumour.
"This is a completely new way of attacking this deadly brain cancer," Dr Ziegler said in a statement.
"If we can take what we have already learnt in the use of CAR-T cell therapy for treating other childhood cancers and translate this to help treat kids with brain cancer, it could be a game changer."
To honour Levi's legacy, his parents have raised more than $4 million for DIPG research, including $600,000 towards the Sydney Children's Hospital trial.
