Behind the science: Hitting cancer where it hurts

Read more: Targeting altered serine metabolism in MLL-rearranged paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

Removing the fuel from the cancer’s engine

Funding from The Kids’ Cancer Project is now enabling the next, two-year part of the research process. That work is all about the pre-clinical testing of drugs to figure out the most effective way to remove the ability of the cancer cells to produce their own serine, and therefore to starve them.

“The main part of the grant will fund pre-clinical testing of this tool compound. The hope is that we can work with pharma companies or other academic groups to develop even better drugs that stop the cells’ ability to produce and use serine.”

If this part of the process is a success, the next likely step is clinical trial.

Research innovation is made possible by funding

Having worked in cancer research for over three decades, Johnstone has seen massive change in treatments, survival rates, and quality of life for survivors driven in part by advances in technology.

“The way I explain it is to think about what your phone looked like in 1990 – it was probably a fixed landline,” he says. “Then there were the first, greyscale Nokias that were a little clunky. Then things began to accelerate and now we have powerful computers in our pockets.”

"That’s the research workforce and the students, and that’s what funding enables.”

Where to next, then? One innovation is the use of targeted agents to kill cancer cells, rather than more general treatments such as chemotherapy. Why damage the entire lawn, Johnstone says, when you just want to kill a few weeds.

The other is helping the body’s immune system to fight back against the cancer, using what’s known as ‘immunotherapy’.

“I think a multi-pronged approach where we’re using targeted therapies in a personalised way, as well as immunotherapies, is going to be the way forward,” he says. “The future of kids’ cancer treatment is going to be very different.”