By Bill Thomas | February 11th
The Profectus Blog exists to help patients, survivors, families, donors, and other members of the childhood cancer community stay informed about the latest news and innovations in cancer treatment and care. One such innovation that has found considerable success recently is NanoKnife, a form of ablation therapy that uses electrical pulses to break down cancer cells.
Not long ago, the BBC reported that the youngest cancer patient ever treated with NanoKnife–George, a two-year-old boy from Camden, London, England–was declared officially cancer-free.
In 2023, George was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a form of skeletal muscle cancer and the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in children. George’s father, Jonathan, said he will never forget the moment his son received his RMS diagnosis.
“It felt like my entire world had collapsed,” Jonathan told the BBC.
George initially received chemotherapy, but after three rounds of treatment with no tumor shrinkage, George’s parents began searching for other options. NanoKnife appealed to them, Jonathan said, because it was new and groundbreaking. After consulting with several RMS experts, they concluded that NanoKnife was George’s best option.
Today, George is cancer-free and attending preschool.
What is NanoKnife Therapy?
NanoKnife therapy, also known as irreversible electroporation (IRE), is an FDA-approved, minimally invasive ablation procedure that employs electrical currents to destroy cancer cells. By using electricity instead of heat or cold (both commonly used in other forms of ablation), NanoKnife allows surgeons to more precisely target tumors without risking damage to a patient’s nerves and blood vessels. This is especially beneficial for soft tissue cancers like RMS, which are often otherwise inoperable due to being located near vital structures in the body.
First made commercially available in 2009, NanoKnife is still a new form of treatment, one that is not yet widely available. This is due in part to the specialized training and equipment required to perform the NanoKnife procedure. Additionally, while NanoKnife has shown promising results thus far, more research is required to determine its efficacy for specific types of cancers.
What is Know About RMS Cancer in Children
As noted above, RMS is the most common form of soft tissue cancer in children today. In fact, according to the American Cancer Society, about 3% of all pediatric cancers are RMS. RMS is diagnosed more commonly in children and teens than in adults, with more than half of all pediatric cancer patients diagnosed with RMS being under ten years old.
Most children with RMS are treated with chemotherapy. As is the case with all drug therapies, however, there is always the risk of a patient’s cancer developing drug resistance. Dr. Kyle MacQuarrie, a physician-scientist at the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, has been studying RMS for almost 20 years. Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation is currently funding MacQuarrie’s work exploring how the nuclear organization of RMS cancer cells contributes to gene fusions that reduce survival outcomes in patients with metastatic RMS tumors.
It is estimated that around 350 children are diagnosed with RMS annually. Each and every one of those children deserves the chance to beat their disease and live a full, productive life. The best way to give them that chance is to ensure that pediatric cancer researchers, like Dr. MacQuarrie and those involved in NanoKnife’s ongoing clinical trials, have the resources they need to carry out their vital work.
Unfortunately, in the U.S., a mere 4% of all federal cancer research funds is allocated for pediatric cancer research. That makes what we do here at Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation all the more important. If you would like to help power research that accelerates cures and improves quality of life for pediatric cancer patients everywhere, consider becoming a donor today.
To stay up-to-date with all the latest news shaping the future of pediatric cancer treatment, don’t forget to follow the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation Profectus Blog!
