CANCER doesn’t discriminate and soon, thanks to work being done at Children’s Medical Research Institute in Westmead, neither will its diagnosis and treatment.

At the moment, the speed and accuracy with which all types of cancers are identified and treated can vary, according to where you are in the world and your access to experienced clinicians. Children’s Medical Research Institute wants to change all that with ProCan®.

One mum who sees the value of ProCan is Rene. While living in South Africa, her daughter Linke was diagnosed at the age of one with an aggressive form of leukaemia. After weeks of dealing with a baby who was constantly sick with no official diagnosis, a blood test revealed something was not quite right. Finally, a bone marrow procedure revealed the cancer.

After six months of chemotherapy, Linke was still unwell and their doctor gave little hope.

“He said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t do anything for her, there is no proven treatment for her. Maybe do some research’,” Rene said. “So I went home and that same day I sent about 130 emails to medical professionals all over the world.’’

She received a response from Dr Luciano Dalla-Pozza, Head of Oncology at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, CMRI’s partner hospital, who said he would help. Rene moved countries, bringing her family to Sydney so Linke could have access to specialised care.

“She began treatment on a clinical trial within 24 hours. By the end of the first month on this new treatment, Linke was in remission. Three weeks is all it took on the right treatment,’’ Linke said.

ProCan could have made this a very different experience for Rene and Linke.

Over the next five years, the scientists at Children’s Medical Research Institute will analyse the proteome of tens of thousands of cancer cells from all over the world. They will compile this data and use advanced computer analysis to compare it with pathology results, genome sequencing, as well as response to treatment. This will allow CMRI to develop the ProCan test, so any cancer doctor anywhere in the world can have their patient’s cancer diagnosed faster. What’s more, they will know which treatment is most likely to work for that patient’s particular cancer, and equally important, which treatments won’t work. This will save crucial time and lives.

“Hearing about ProCan was breathtaking,’’ Rene said. “It will mean that every child has the opportunity of getting the right treatment, with the greatest chance of success, first time around. Regardless of where a child lives.’’

To find out more about the work being done on ProCan and other research projects at Children’s Medical Research Institute visit cmri.org.au