Individualized Therapy For Relapsed Malignancies In Childhood Cancer (INFORM)

Project leader: Monica Cheng Munthe-Kaas

Cancer affects just under 200 Norwegian children and young people each year. The treatment usually consists of chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiation therapy.
Overall survival for the group is just over 80%, but this means that as many as 40 Norwegian children and young people die of cancer each year. In the recent years there has been an increased focus on genetic and molecular targets that may open new treatment options. This is especially important for patients with childhood cancer where traditional treatment does not work or for patients who have a relapse of their childhood cancer.
The INFORM study is an international study, making it possible to identify molecular targets that may open up new treatment options. The study maps the possibility of personalized treatment linked to experimental clinical studies in the Nordic countries.
Furthermore, through INFORM studies, we will contribute to gathering experience and knowledge about personalized pediatric cancer treatment at European level, which will be important for better treatment in the future for this group of patients who otherwise have a very poor prognosis. Since pediatric cancer is rare, it will be impossible to obtain a research-based basis for personalized pediatric cancer treatment without large-scale international collaboration such as the INFORM study.