MALAGA, June 30 — The shift in childhood cancer treatment is happening inside a Madrid lab, led by a researcher from the Costa del Sol. Alfonso Alba Bernal, from Rincón de la Victoria, is currently conducting postdoctoral research with the paediatric oncohematology group at La Paz University Hospital in Madrid. He is leading a project to find a solution for those who suffer from rhabdoid tumours, working with a highly qualified team and in collaboration with Antonio Pérez Martínez, head of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department at La Paz.
These tumours are rare, aggressive, and almost always appear in the first years of life. “They have different locations, from those in the brain, known as atypical rhabdoid teratoid tumours, to those that arise in the kidney or liver.
The latter are called extracranial malignant rhabdoid tumours,” Alba Bernal explains. Current treatment relies on surgery, chemotherapy and, when possible, radiotherapy. The results are grim.
“But it’s insufficient and carries significant side effects for such young children. The problem is that we don’t have specialised treatments for these types of tumours and with current therapies, only 20 per cent of those who suffer from them survive more than five years,” Alba Bernal says.
What makes these cancers so complicated is their genetic simplicity. “Unlike other cancers full of mutations, rhabdoids depend primarily on the loss of a single gene, which makes them aggressive and difficult to treat,” he points out. But that same lack of complexity raises an interesting question for the team.
If the tumour displays recognisable signals on its surface, can the patient’s own body be trained to find them? Under this premise, the research team is working to apply CAR-T therapy. “Our immune system has cells called T lymphocytes,” the source states.
For children with such devastating odds, the trend underneath this research is a move away from blunt, toxic treatments toward precision immunotherapy. Watch this space.
The work at La Paz is asking the right question about these rare, aggressive childhood cancers, and the answer could change how we treat the youngest patients. Consult your doctor for medical advice.
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