Cancer vaccination drives the generation of anti-tumor T cell immunity and can be enhanced by the inclusion of effective immune adjuvants such as type I interferons (IFNs). Whilst type I IFNs have been shown to promote cross-priming of T cells, the role of individual subtypes remains unclear. Here we systematically compared the capacity of distinct type I IFN subtypes to enhance T cell responses to a whole-cell vaccination strategy in a pre-clinical murine model. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• September 2021

KMT2A-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in infants is an aggressive disease with 3-year event-free survival below 40%. Most relapses occur during treatment, with two thirds occurring within 1 year and 90% within 2 years after diagnosis. Outcomes have not improved in recent decades despite intensification of chemotherapy. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• April 2023

Mesothelioma is characterised by its aggressive invasive behaviour, affecting the surrounding tissues of the pleura or peritoneum. We compared an invasive pleural model with a non-invasive subcutaneous model of mesothelioma and performed transcriptomic analyses on the tumour samples. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• May 2023

Congenital intracranial meningiomas are rare lesions. We present a case of congenital intraventricular cystic meningioma, initially characterized with fetal MRI and confirmed postnatally with histopathology. To our knowledge, this is the first in vivo description of a congenital meningioma with fetal MRI. The fetal MRI was able to characterize the lesion as an atypical intraventricular mass which was separate from the choroid plexus, differentiating the mass from a choroid plexus neoplasm. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• March 2021

Children with medulloblastoma and ependymoma are treated with a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy; however, overall survival rates for patients with high-risk disease remain unsatisfactory. Data indicate that plant-derived cannabinoids are effective against adult glioblastoma; however, preclinical evidence supporting their use in pediatric brain cancers is lacking. Here we investigated the potential role for Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) in medulloblastoma and ependymoma. Dose-dependent cytotoxicity of medulloblastoma and ependymoma cells was induced by THC and CBD in vitro, and a synergistic reduction in viability was observed when both drugs were combined. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• January 2021

Cancer cells display DNA hypermethylation at specific CpG islands in comparison to their normal healthy counterparts, but the mechanism that drives this so-called CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) remains poorly understood. Here, we show that CpG island methylation in human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) mainly occurs at promoters of Polycomb Repressor Complex 2 (PRC2) target genes that are not expressed in normal or malignant T-cells and which display a reciprocal association with H3K27me3 binding. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• November 2020

Glioblastoma, a rare, and highly lethal form of brain cancer, poses significant challenges in terms of therapeutic resistance, and poor survival rates for both adult and paediatric patients alike. Despite advancements in brain cancer research driven by a technological revolution, translating our understanding of glioblastoma pathogenesis into improved clinical outcomes remains a critical unmet need. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• October 2023

Intravascular tumor extension is an uncommon complication of solid malignancies that, when present in the inferior vena cava (IVC), can result in fatal pulmonary tumor embolism. Currently, neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery are the mainstays of treatment; however, there are no consensus guidelines for management.   ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• November 2023

Burn injury in children causes prolonged systemic effects on physiology and metabolism leading to increased morbidity and mortality, yet much remains undefined regarding the metabolic trajectory towards specific health outcomes. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• Jun 2023

Rearrangements of the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL/KMT2A) gene are present in approximately 10% of acute leukemias and characteristically define disease with poor outcome. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2022
• May 2022

The Toronto Paediatric Cancer Stage Guidelines are a compendium of staging systems developed to facilitate collection of consistent and comparable data on stage at diagnosis for childhood cancers by cancer registries. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• August 2023

Nick Raelene Gottardo Endersby NG R MBChB FRACP PhD BSc (Hons) PhD Co-Head, Brain Tumour Research Brainchild Fellow; Co-Head, Brain Tumour Research nicholas.gottardo@telethonkids.org.au raelene.endersby@telethonkids.org.au Co-Head, Brain Tumour ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• August 2023