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Child cancer survival rates could dramatically improve if new genetic tests prove successful, scientists say.
Around 400 children from across the UK are set to undergo the tests, which could make it easier for doctors to prescribe them personalised drugs and treatments.
The initiative will be led by researchers from London's Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust , who will painstakingly sequence 81 different cancer genes over the next two years.
Once the tests are completed, the results will help doctors choose which medicines or clincial trials would benefit each patient the most.
Personalised remedies are increasingly being offered to adults, so researchers hope their project will help level the playing field.
Professor Louis Chesler, the leader of the study and a consultant at the Royal Marsden, said: "Children deserve the very best, modern treatments for cancer, but for too long there have been delays in applying the latest molecular techniques to personalise their treatment."
250 The approximate number of children who die from cancer in the UK each year
"A more comprehensive and structured approach to genetic testing to match children with cancer to specific targeted treatments could be an incredibly important step towards increasing survival."
He said there are still "major barriers" to obtaining targeted cancer drugs for children, but he hopes his team's work will help drive forward their use.
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Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year
PA
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Ye et al/Current Biology
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Reuters
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A. Gennari
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Steven G Johnson
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Clay Bolt
Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal
New Mexico Museum of Natural History
Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold
Faye Levine, University of Maryland
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Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase
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Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies
Getty/AFP
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Reuters/AP
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Viktor Radermacher / SWNS
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ESO/A. Müller et al
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Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs
José Iriarte
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Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth.
Pictures by: Tom Momary
According to Cancer Research UK , around five children are diagnosed with the disease every day across the country.
Cancer is the leading cause of death for children aged 1-14 in the UK, with around 250 children dying from it each year.
Although the death rate for children with cancer has more than halved in the UK since the 1970s, studies like this one may help drive down those figures even more
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