Cure Leukaemia launches world-first paediatric transplant trials network

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Cure Leukaemia has today announced the official launch of The ATICUS Network (Accelerating Trials in Children Undergoing Stem Cell Transplant), a pioneering collaboration between 11 leading UK Children’s Hospitals to revolutionize clinical trial access for children battling blood cancer.

The network, which includes prominent hospitals such as Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and Birmingham Children’s Hospital, will connect young patients across the UK to world-first stem cell transplant trials.

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For the first time, children living with blood cancer across the nation will have access to potentially life-saving, innovative treatments through this national clinical trial infrastructure.

The ATICUS Network brings together the UK’s leading paediatric clinicians and research nurses to deliver cutting-edge, practice-changing clinical trials aimed at improving outcomes for children undergoing stem cell transplants. Operating across ten major metropolitan cities, including Manchester, London, Birmingham, and Glasgow, this groundbreaking initiative ensures that transformative new therapies will be more readily available to children who need them most.

ATICUS NetworkATICUS Network
ATICUS Network

Professor Rob Wynn of Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, a key figure in the ATICUS initiative, emphasized the importance of national collaboration to fast-track access to clinical trials for young patients.

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“Our aim as children’s doctors is to cure our patients so that they can live their life as if they never had the illness in the first place. It’s vital we incorporate these transformative new therapies into routine care as quickly as possible. This can only be done by increasing access to clinical trials of these new treatments,” said Professor Wynn.

“Access to clinical trials requires a funded national trial infrastructure, which we currently lack in the UK. Without such an infrastructure, real treatments that might help real children with blood cancer are often not available in the UK.”

Professor Persis Amrolia of Great Ormond Street Hospital explained the importance of the setup of the paediatric network:

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“For certain forms of blood cancer, there has been huge improvement, however we are still losing far too many children and the treatment that we give them is often very toxic – which highlights how desperately we need new treatments and the only way we can do this is through clinical trials.”

Allan Dickson who’s daughter Liv received treatment at the Royal Hospital For Children in Glasgow aged just 12, spoke of the hope the ATICUS network will provide children and their families. “As a parent, your mission in life is to look after, love and protect your kids. I cannot thank Cure Leukaemia enough for getting the paediatric network over the line, giving hope to those families who are about to walk in Liv’s shoes.”

Speaking on the launch of the ATICUS Network, Cure Leukaemia Patron Gary Lineker OBE added: “Four children every day are diagnosed with blood cancer in the UK, affecting children as young as 3 months old, and is the most common cancer in children and teens, including my son George who was less than a year old when he was diagnosed.

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The ATICUS Network is groundbreaking in the blood cancer landscape and will provide hope to so many children and their families - and just needs funding.

We shouldn’t be relying on patients, their families and friends to fundraise through crazy challenges to fund the Research Nurses required to open the ATICUS network.

There are two new world-first trials that are ready to open, but require Cure Leukaemia Research Nurses to open, which is why funding the ATICUS network is vital.

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To help fund the ATICUS Network and ensure that these trials can start as soon as possible, Cure Leukaemia recently launched its Club 10 initiative, calling on businesses across the UK to pledge £10,000. CEO of Cure Leukaemia, James McLaughlin, highlighted the critical need for funding:

“The ATICUS Network is established and ready to go, but we now need the necessary funding to begin trials and improve the blood cancer landscape for children across the UK. These trials could deliver practice-changing treatments that will save lives, but we need support to make that a reality.”

The ATICUS Network hospitals include:

  • Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital – Manchester
  • Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – Cambridge
  • The Royal Marsden Hospital – Surrey
  • Great North Children’s Hospital – Newcastle
  • Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital – Birmingham
  • Royal Hospital For Children – Glasgow
  • Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust – London
  • Leeds Children Hospital – Leeds
  • Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust – Sheffield
  • St Mary’s Hospital – London
  • University College London Hospital – London

For more information about The ATICUS Network or to join the Club 10 initiative, visit Cure Leukaemia website.

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