About Bone Cancer Research Trust
The Bone Cancer Research Trust (BCRT) was established in 2004 by a group of parents who had lost children and young adults to primary bone cancer. BCRT is raising funds for the second year of a four-year PhD research project aimed at discovering new treatments for Osteosarcoma. BCRT ensures that PhD students engage with patients, creating a connection beyond the laboratory.
Determined not to accept the status quo, the families pooled funds they had already raised, and with guidance from Professor Ian Lewis (Consultant Paediatrician and Adolescent Oncologist at St James’s University Hospital Leeds) the Bone Cancer Research Trust was registered in 2006.
Osteosarcoma Cancer
Osteosarcoma is the most common form of primary bone cancer to affect children and young adults, it is a rare disease, with around 160 people diagnosed each year. There are currently 6,000 people living with and beyond a primary bone cancer diagnosis, of which there are eight subtypes, and a further 560 are diagnosed each year.
This type of bone cancer is currently treated with complex chemotherapy which was developed in the 1970s. It increased the survival rate from 20% to 60% but it is toxic and has horrendous side effects e.g., kidney damage, and heart failure. The research is needed to move towards more targeted treatments. Osteosarcoma is a ‘cold tumour’ so it does not respond well to immunotherapy.
CAR T Treatment
CAR T therapy has shown great promise in treating blood cancers. BCRT is exploring whether it can also be effective against solid tumours. This treatment has the potential to be applied to various types of solid tumours in the future. With CAR T therapy, the body retains T cells that should prevent the recurrence of the same type of cancer and potentially other cancers with high levels of GD2.
The Grant
The Hospital Saturday Fund presented a grant of £10,000 to Bone Cancer Research Trust. The grant will go towards funding Year 2 of a PhD research project to fund a new treatment for osteosarcoma. Supporting BCRT research on how the cells communicate and what treatments can stop cancerous cells, will be vital to saving children’s and adults’ lives.
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