Hundreds of samples being assessed as part of LPT-funded study

The most common type of solid cancer in children and young people is rhabdomyosarcoma. It grows as lumps in soft parts of the body like muscles and fat.

While most patients’ treatments are successful, sometimes the cancer survives or grows back. This can be hard for doctors to identify.

However, Professor Janet Shipley at The Institute of Cancer Research is working on a way to monitor whether treatment is working.

Cancer cells have different DNA from your healthy cells because they have genetic mutations that allow them to grow out of control.

Sometimes, cancer cells leak small pieces of this mutated DNA into the bloodstream, which can be detected by special blood tests.

Janet’s Little Princess Trust-funded project looks at whether these blood tests could be used to show how much rhabdomyosarcoma is present.

They think that the amount of cancer DNA goes down, it could mean treatment is working and the cancer is shrinking.

If the cancer DNA levels increase during or after treatment, it could therefore mean that the cancer is still growing.

This project will test whether this is the case, using samples collected by the existing FaR-RMS clinical trial.

The team has been hard at work and has found over 400 rhabdomyosarcoma samples to assess.

These cancer samples are now being analysed for genetic changes that the team might be able to look for in patients’ blood.

By working with the FaR-RMS trial, Janet’s team will be able to check cancer DNA levels in patients' blood throughout treatment.

They can then compare this to patients’ clinical records to see if cancer DNA levels are linked to the cancer's response to treatment.

If the blood tests could tell doctors when the cancer is not getting better, they could start alternative treatments sooner.  

Until the end of the project, the researchers won’t know for sure if their test works. But, with two years left on their project, they are hopeful that it will make a real difference to rhabdomyosarcoma patients.

You can find out more about this project here.