New lab tackles childhood cancer research, treatments

A new laboratory for pediatric translational medicine established in Shanghai is expected to accelerate the development of cellular immune therapies for children with cancer.

The laboratory was jointly developed by the Shanghai Children's Medical Center and the Children's National Health System, a leading United States pediatric hospital based in Washington. It will focus on oncology study and research which translates basic scientific findings into clinical and practical applications.

Cancer is one of the main causes of nonaccidental deaths in children.

Each year, about 110 new cases of malignant tumors are found among every million children below the age of 15 in the city, mainly a result of leukemia, brain tumors, malignant lymphomas and other immunity diseases, the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.

For children with cancer, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the most widely used traditional treatments.

But such treatments cannot completely kill cancer cells, so the relapse rate is high. Improving treatment while lowering adverse effects has long been a goal.

Compared with traditional treatments, cellular immune therapy will more precisely target cancerous cells and reduce the danger to healthy cells, said Liu Yang, director of the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research at the US hospital system.

The Washington hospital was one of the first medical institutes in the world to employ cellular immune therapy and it has already seen promising results.

Under the partnership, doctors and researchers will work across institutions and conduct joint research, which will drive medical advances for the treatment of pediatric diseases, said Mark L. Batshaw, the hospital's physician-in-chief and chief academic officer.

The Shanghai and Washington hospitals have had an information partnership for many years. The cooperation now has been expanded to include speaking engagements, telemedicine and consultations.