The newest research group to be set up at Children’s Medical Research Institute has a big goal – changing the way some of the most challenging childhood cancers are diagnosed and treated.

The Multi-omics in Childhood Cancer group has been established by Dr Rebecca Poulos who is a member of CMRI’s ProCan team.

Dr Poulos is a cancer biologist and data scientist with a special interest in proteins. The protein composition of cells can change when they become cancerous, so recognising these changes can help diagnose and treat cancer.

“Cancer is the leading cause of death from disease in Australian children. There is an urgent need to improve precision medicine to advance outcomes in hard-to-treat paediatric cancers. Many diagnosis and treatment decisions in cancer can be based on measurements of proteins in biopsy tissues,’’ Dr Poulos said.

The Multi-omics in Childhood Cancer team uses ProCan’s mass spectrometry facilities to study the proteins of paediatric cancer samples, aiming to produce a report for clinicians within 72 hours that would help them determine which treatment would be most effective.

“Proteins should better predict cancer treatment response than DNA or RNA because most anti-cancer drugs interact directly with proteins.

“This would have immediate translational application, enhancing current diagnostics for childhood cancer. Rapid results would have clinical benefit by improving diagnostic accuracy and informing treatment options for precision medicine in childhood cancer.’’

The initial focus of the team will be hard-to-treat cancers including neuroblastoma, metastatic Ewing sarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma.

“Within five years we want to be able to deliver very specific protein reports routinely into the clinic,’’ she said. “We want to be able to give clinicians more information to help them decide on the most appropriate treatment.’’

Dr Poulos said she felt a sense of urgency and was starting with one other researcher in her team but hoped to double this by the end of the year.

“We’re making a lot of advances in children’s cancers but there is still a low survival rate in some cancer types, and children are still dying from cancer in Australia so much more works needs to be done.’’

In 2024 Dr Poulos was awarded the Ramaciotti Health Investment Grant and Derek Hart Memorial Award for her work.