A Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI)-led project to optimise cancer medication and care for children and young people has received Federal Government support.

Associate Professor Rachel Conyers was awarded a $3 million Genomics Health Futures Mission grant by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to personalise chemotherapy, antibiotics, antifungals and other anti-cancer treatments.

While remission rates for many childhood cancers approach 85 per cent, nearly all patients experience adverse drug reactions, potentially linked to their genetic make-up. In some instances, the medications can also be ineffective.

Associate Professor Conyers said the significant funding means her team could now establish a national framework, known as the Australian Pharmacogenetic Paediatric Oncology Network for Drug Safety (AUSPOND) network, to improve patient outcomes and drug effectiveness while reducing side-effects.

“AUSPOND will take information from all Australian paediatric oncology sites and create a database that captures the variety of adverse reactions that can occur when a young patient requires a cancer therapy,” she said.

Image: Associate Professor Rachel Conyers

“We will also work to establish which genes make patients more likely to experience side effects from a medication, or gain little to no benefit from another treatment.”

Associate Professor Conyers will work closely with Professor Mirana Ramialison from MCRI’s Bioinformatics and Transciptomics group, using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to identify higher-risk patients before they are given medication.

“Our previous studies showed patients experienced multiple medication side effects within weeks of starting cancer medications – some of which severely reduced their quality of life,” Associate Professor Conyers said.

“We want young cancer patients to recover as smoothly as possible and we can help make this a reality by using machine learning to pair hospital records to genomic information, enabling more personalised care.”

The European Molecular Biology Organisation European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) will also contribute to the study. Findings from the research will also be integrated into an education program for healthcare professionals.

Read more about MCRI’s Cancer Therapies research.