Neuroblastoma is one of the most commonly occurring malignancies in children, with high-risk cases having a 50-60% chance of relapse, which is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths.
Like other cancers, neuroblastoma has a higher need for particular nutrients to sustain increased cell division, and particularly requires a type of metabolite called polyamines.
Polyamine inhibitors are a class of drug which are a current area of research interest for neuroblastoma, with one already being clinically available and others in varied stages of preclinical and clinical trials.
These drugs exploit key genetic and metabolic differences of polyamines in cancer cells relative to non-neoplastic cells, providing a therapeutic window to reduce toxicity.
Limited data is currently available regarding plasma levels of polyamines in neuroblastoma patients, including any effects this may have on the efficacy of treatment with polyamine inhibitors.
Researchers will be compare plasma samples of neuroblastoma patients to those of healthy, controls in the ORIGINS cohort and identify differences in polyamine levels.
The team hypothesise that elevated levels of polyamines will occur neuroblastoma patients and hope to determine the effectiveness of blood polyamine levels as a marker for both diagnosis and prognosis of neuroblastoma patients.
Investigators
- Dr Angelica Merlot, Children's Cancer Institute
- Dr Nina D'Vaz, ORIGINS Biobank Manager, The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Dong-Hun Bae, Children's Cancer Institute
- Alyssa Scott, Children's Cancer Institute