A Childhood Cancer National Precision Medicine Program

The Sydney Children's Hospital Network

This program aimed to develop a comprehensive testing program, providing in-depth tumour profiling to identify personalised treatment plans for children with high risk cancers.

The Zero Childhood Cancer platform includes rapid genome sequencing and drug testing, analysing each patient's results to identify novel therapies.

Results include:

• More than 350 children with high risk cancers have been enrolled in the program
• Reportable molecular aberrations identified in more than 90% of cases
• This led to a change of diagnosis in 5% of patients, while 70% received a new treatment recommendation
• In 16% of cases, a previously unknown germline mutation was identified
• 25% of patients have received a new treatment, with majority showing clinical benefit
• 40% of patients experienced a cessation of tumour growth and 30% have had their tumours shrink, in some cases with complete disease resolution.