The Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation has earmarked special funds for research on tumors of the brain and nervous system. Marie Kalm at the University of Gothenburg has received a major three-year grant for her project to develop methods of minimizing brain damage when children and adolescents undergo radiotherapy.
“The support of the foundation is decisive to increasing our knowledge of ways to avoid complications later in life,” Dr. Kalm says, who was trained as a pharmacologist. “With the methods currently in use, children risk developing permanent cognitive problems, such as memory and learning difficulties.”
The reason for the targeted effort is that progress in treating tumors of children’s nervous system has not been as steady as is the case with leukemia. Brain tumors and neuroblastoma are two of the diseases in the spotlight. Both basic and patient-oriented research is being conducted to improve quality of life and survival rates among children who develop such malignancies.
Dr. Kalm has obtained a three-year project grant that supplements her four-year appointment as an assistant professorresearch fellow. The Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation has awarded her a total of almost SEK 4.5 million.
“Everyone on our team feels energized and enormously grateful for the confidence that the foundation has demonstrated in such an important project,” Dr. Kalm says. Her team is affiliated with the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology and the Institute of Clinical Sciences.
Radiotherapy is highly effective in treating brain tumors but can also cause damage, especially among children whose nervous systems are still developing. The brain’s stem cells, which continue to divide throughout life, are particularly sensitive to radiation.
“Previous research has found that stem cells die after radiotherapy, which may be one cause of cognitive problems later on in life,” Dr. Kalm says. Furthermore, the stem cells that do survive are affected by the change in the brain’s chemical environment. The goal of the research team is to identify methods of using biomarkers to individualize radiotherapy and avoid damage as much as possible, as well as to discover protective measures.
Whereas three out of four childhood cancer victims died as recently as the 1970s, 80% survive nowadays.
“The progress is unbelievable, but our vision is to eradicate childhood cancer completely,” says Kerstin Sollerbrant, Director of Research and Education at the foundation. “Sponsoring research appointments at various levels in order to support particularly promising projects is our way of ensuring and maintaining cogency and continuity in this crucial area.”
She elaborates on the funds that the foundation has awarded to the University of Gothenburg.
“Many childhood cancer survivors develop complications, and radiotherapy of the brain is especially complicated,” Dr. Sollerbrant says. “This is a priority area for the foundation, and we are working on making sure that these children receive the support they need at school, not to mention access to rehabilitation. Survival is not good enough in itself—quality of life is also a vital concern for us.”
The foundation remains the single largest sponsor of Swedish childhood cancer research. Grant applications are judged by its research committees, which request the assistance of external specialists when needed, as well as representatives of the foundation’s medical team.
The foundation has awarded more than SEK 2 billion to Swedish childhood cancer research during its 30-year history.
