Research funding in pediatric cancer medicine for better access to new therapies

The network for clinical studies in pediatric cancer "SELECT Southwest" under the direction of the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) in cooperation with twelve pediatric oncology centers receives funding of 2.5 million euros from German Cancer Aid. The aim is to sustainably improve the infrastructure for early clinical studies in the field of pediatric oncology. This should give more boys and girls suffering from cancer access to suitable treatment options.

 

© KiTZ

The Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) is a joint institution of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and the University of Heidelberg (Uni HD).

The "Research Network for Early Clinical Trials in the Southwest German Region" (reSearch nEtwork earLy phasE Clinical Trials Southwest Germany; SELECT Southwest), founded in 2018 with the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) as the coordinating center, applied together with twelve other centers in the southwest German region for the funding program "Infrastructure for Early Clinical Trials in Pediatric Oncology" of German Cancer Aid - with success: German Cancer Aid has now granted SELECT Südwest funding of 500. 000 per year over a period of five years.

The program aims to provide targeted support for the establishment and expansion of more efficient structures for conducting early clinical trials for children with cancer. Such "early" studies (phase I/II studies) are primarily intended to test whether a drug can be safely used in cancer therapy in children, at what dosage, and whether there are indications of efficacy. This involves not only new active ingredients, but also drugs that have already been approved for the treatment of other diseases.

To date, there are only a few cancer drugs that have been developed specifically for cancer in children. Pediatric oncologists must therefore repeatedly test and weigh for themselves whether a new drug approved for adults could have the same effect in a child. "These individual cure trials have risks for the patients and usually do not lead to any scientific gain in knowledge," says network spokesman Olaf Witt, director at the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg, head of the Clinical Cooperation Unit Pediatric Oncology at the German Cancer Research Center and senior consultant at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD). "The advantage of a clinical trial is that treatment success, and side effects are monitored closely and according to a predetermined plan." The experience gained also provides insights from which other patients can benefit in the future.

Facilitating access to clinical trials for high-risk patients

SELECT Southwest will use the funding to provide better access to early clinical trials for children with progressive cancer or who have relapsed. In order to open new clinical trials more quickly, the network will, among other things, develop innovative study concepts based on the latest scientific research findings. In addition, the study centers are to be more closely interlinked for patient recruitment, the transfer of patients between the centers is to be optimized and offers for the further qualification of study personnel are to be created.

SELECT Southwest consists of 13 independent partner institutions and provides care for about one third of all pediatric cancer cases in Germany. It is one of five clinical networks in Germany that have joined forces under the umbrella of the Society for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology (GPOH). In the first five years, SELECT will be funded with another network as a pilot project.

The partner institutions of the clinic network Southwest:
University Hospital Düsseldorf, UKD
University Hospital Frankfurt
University Hospital Freiburg
University Hospital Gießen, UKGM
Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ)
LK Hospitals Heilbronn GmbH
Municipal Hospital Karlsruhe
Community Hospital Midle Rhine gGmbH
University Hospital of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
University Hospital Mannheim
Hospital Stuttgart
University Hospital for children and adolescents Tübingen
University Hospital for children and adolescents Ulm

Dr. Alexandra Moosmann

Head KiTZ Communications

Postal address:
Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3
69120 Heidelberg

 

Dr. Larissa Fritzenschaf

KiTZ Online Editor

Postal address:
Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3
69120 Heidelberg

 

Svenja Schmitt

KiTZ Social Media

Postal address:
Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3
69120 Heidelberg