The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Child cancer network

Pediatric oncology focuses on diagnosing and treating cancer in children and adolescents, presenting unique challenges due to the rarity and diverse nature of childhood cancers. In Sweden, approximately 350 children are diagnosed with cancer yearly, whereas 55 000-60 000 adults receive a cancer diagnosis. Among these 350 children, a large diversity of cancers are seen, ranging from leukemia and brain tumors to sarcomas. This poses challenges both in clinical practice and research endeavors. Despite these challenges, outcome for pediatric cancer is good, with 80-85% of patients surviving.

During the  60-70-80ties, the primary focus was on the curation of the patients. However, with a growing cohort of survivors of pediatric cancer, we learnt that treatment comes at the price of both acute and late toxicities. Therefore, much of the focus of current research is to increase treatment efficacy, whilst at the same time not adding the treatment-related toxicity. This can be achieved for instance in clinical treatment studies that evaluate de-escalation of treatment-intensity is specific patients groups (often based on the genetic basis of the disease and/or treatment responses), whilst maintaining similar curation. Further, there is a large research focus on finding more targeted treatment modalities with a higher specificity to target tumorous cells compared to the more classical chemotherapy. That latter would either lead to increased treatment efficacy, decreases treatment toxicity, or both.

The purpose of the LUCC-Child network is to:

  • create a meeting platform for clinicians to meet preclinical researchers and educate each other about the the different aspects of their work
  • to encourage cooperation between different researchers, or between clinicians and researches within our network with the ultimate goal of improving the outcomes and quality of life of child cancer patients.

Network leaders

Daniel Bexell

Daniel Bexell

daniel [dot] bexell [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se
Tel: +46 46 222 64 23

Department of Laboratory Medicine
Lund University
Medicon Village, bldg 404
22381 Lund

 

Kees-Jan

Kees-Jan Pronk

kees-jan [dot] pronk [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se

Department of Laboratory Medicine
Lund University
BMC B12 Sölvegatan 17
Lund