Childrenin the UK with Cancer to get new gene test

Children with cancer at leading hospitals across the UK will be offered testing for genetic mutations in their tumors as part of a new initiative to begin to personalize children's cancer treatment.
Around 400 children with solid tumors at 21 hospitals across in the UK will start to receive the new genetic test, which is designed to pick up key mutations in tumors that drive cancer's growth and spread.
The initiative is the first stage of a wider program which eventually aims to provide testing for all children with solid tumors in the UK, and to direct them into clinical trials targeting particular mutations within their tumors.
Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust designed the new test, which works by sequencing 81 different cancer genes, with funding from UK charity Christopher's Smile.
Testing will begin from 2016 and take about two years, with initial funding for the testing program from the NIHR Biomedical Research Center at The Royal Marsden and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).
Tests will first be offered to children treated at The Royal Marsden, and then to patients at any of the other 20 hospitals in the UK which form part of the Children's Cancer and Leukemia Group.