Associate Professor Tao Liu  from the Children’s Cancer Institute, is one of the two winners of our 2020 research grants. We asked Associate Professor Tao Liu to outline his research and how it aims to help children with high risk neuroblastoma. 

High-risk neuroblastoma cases with TERT oncogene rearrangement

Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumour in early childhood and accounts for 15% of all childhood cancer death. Approximately a quarter of high-risk neuroblastoma is caused by rearrangements in a gene called TERT that results in uncontrolled cancer growth, known as TERT oncogene rearrangement. Children with this subtype of neuroblastoma have less than 40% survival rate and are typically treated with surgery and toxic chemotherapy, meaning those that do survive often suffer life-long side effects.

The funding from Neuroblastoma Australia will allow our team at Children’s Cancer Institute to identify the specific drivers of TERT oncogene rearrangement in high-risk neuroblastoma and demonstrate novel therapies that specifically target these drivers.

We hope that, if successful, these novel therapies can be taken into clinical trials to see the first targeted therapy for patients with neuroblastoma due to TERT oncogene rearrangement, leading to better survival rates and better quality of life for children with this devastating childhood cancer.   Associate Professor Tao Liu

More information

• Media release of funding announcement
• Visit our grant recipients page 
• Find out more about current research projects

Would you like to help us fund more vital research?    

There were eight other wonderful research projects submitted during our funding process. We only had enough to fund the top two. We will be putting our efforts towards raising funds to help support at least another two projects but we can't do this without your help.

Visit our how to help page for ways that you can help us to raise funds for this children's cancer or simply donate today to our appeals.

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