Understanding Childhood Cancer With Dr Geoff

Parents always ask why their child developed cancer. They ask if it is genetic, meaning is it something hereditary, or some abnormality in the DNA that the child was born with. In this episode I discuss a recent paper that examined this question. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are multiple ways to go looking for DNA, RNA and protein abnormalities. Many should still be considered research, not standard practice, but they may well be part of the future of cancer therapy. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lymphomas make up about 11% of childhood cancer, and there are several different types. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's multiple ways the DNA code can get messed up and lead to cancer. This episode describes some of them, along with some little green men. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The proteins have to have the right amino acids all assembled in the right order, and the DNA code is the recipe that's used. This episode explains how the correct DNA leads to the right protein being made. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To understand all this DNA analysis business, first one needs to know a bit about proteins. Proteins basically do all the work in cells, and so DNA mutations interfere with protein structures.Serious geek alert! Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gliomas are a type of brain tumour, and are usually called 'low grade' or 'high grade'. What do these terms mean? Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some chemotherapy drugs don't get into the brain and spinal fluid properly, so we have to inject drugs into the spinal fluid. This is mainly in leukaemia and lymphoma. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We often need to take samples of the spinal fluid, and regularly inject chemotherapy drugs there too. We do this using a lumbar puncture. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When eating and nasogastric feeding aren't working, we may need to give nutrition straight into the vein. That's called TPN or hyperalimentation. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a lot of discussion about 'personalised medicine'. What is personalised oncology? Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If children just can't eat enough, we may need a feeding tube. This episode explains what these tubes are all about. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If nutrition is so important, then what food should kids eat while on chemotherapy? Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Children on chemotherapy can really struggle to maintain their weight. This episode explains why. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Exciting new antibodies against cancer were reported at ASCO this year. This episode explains how they work. Will they end up useful in childhood cancer? Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The doctors and nurses keep raving on about fevers, not cancer.... what's this all about?This information may be life-saving. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most new drugs for cancer are first evaluated in adult patients, then we wait, and wait for access for children. The Europeans appear to have this sorted out. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

High dose methotrexate is used in leukaemia, lymphoma, osteosarcoma and certain brain tumours. We give a sky-high dose, then give the antidote, folinic acid, to 'rescue' the patient! Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phase 3 trials are the big studies that compare a new treatment to the existing standard treatment. They enrol lots of patients and take years to complete. Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do we decide what clinical trials to open at a given institution? Link to Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.