THE Katie Trust has now launched three PhD studentships at the Northern Institute of Cancer Research in Newcastle upon Tyne, which will hopefully lead to a new and effective way of treating children with medulloblastoma brain tumours. And in November 2005 we presented them with a vital piece of equipment which will speed up research - more  details at the foot of this page.

    The first two post-holders were Jennifer Anderton - now in her final year - and Charles McManamy - who completed his three-year term in 2003 - who are pictured above in their laboratory. In October 2004, Yuan Lu became the third post-holder.

    Dr David Ellison and Dr Steve Clifford head the team. Their aim is a greater understanding of the biology of medulloblastoma tumours and, in turn, to develop new drugs to treat the disease.

    The team in Newcastle have discovered genes and a protein which play a major role in medulloblastoma tumours. And a paper submitted by Charles which detailed how the appearance of a medulloblastoma cell is related to how seriously ill the patient will become has now been universally acknowledged around the world.

    Medulloblastoma cell nuclei, the Newcastle team found, fall into distinct groups according to shape, size and other physical dimensions. Charles’ work involved the relationship of the size and shape of medulloblastoma tumours to their proliferation and the outcome of the patients concerned.

    It is hoped that the research will eventually lead to less severe forms of the disease being recognised, thus sparing the patient the aggressive form of chemotherapy and radiotherapy - and with it the potential problems in later life - they currently have to undergo; and to the development of new drugs to treat the patient.

    Advances in medical science mean that the team can look at the genetic and molecular make-up of medulloblastoma cells. Abnormal genes can be identified and new drugs aimed at treating them developed.

    "In the last 15 years," said Dr Clifford, "we have begun to understand that defects in genes which normally control the growth of cells cause cancers to develop.

    "Previously you could only look down a microscope and identify a particular from of cancer. Now we can start to identify the genetic changes within each type."

    But, as Dr Ellison explained: "Not just one gene goes wrong when a cancer cell develops. There will be a group of them - and probably more than we have discovered to date. That is one of the big challenges.”

    What that means, of course, is that if abnormal genes could be effectively treated, youngsters with medulloblastoma tumours could stand a better chance of survival.

    It could also mean that those with a 'milder' form of the disease would not need to undergo such aggressive chemotherapy and radiotherapy which can still have side effects some 15 or 20 years later - known long-term effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy include learning difficulties, obesity and  fertility problems.

    The project brings together experts from neuro-pathology in Dr Ellison and genetics in Dr Clifford.

SPEEDING UP RESEARCH THE Katie Trust played Santa and gave an early Christmas present to the team at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2005.     Chairman Martin Neal is pictured presenting the microarray machine - which we purchased at a cost of more than £7,000 to Sarah Leigh Carr, who will use it in her lab at the Paul O'Gorman Building.    It will enable Sarah and the team to analyse tumour samples much more quickly and therefore speed up research significantly and Martin said: "It may only be a small piece of equipment but the job it does is immense."