Title: The Institute of Child Health - Newcastle University - Institute of Cancer Research High-Risk Childhood Brain Tumour Network (INSTINCT)
Funder: The Brain Tumour Charity

Abstract: Background: Despite recent treatment advances (60-70% of patients now survive), ‘high-risk’ paediatric brain tumours (HR-PBTs) remain the leading cause of deaths from cancer in childhood. Advances in biological understanding, and their translation into effective therapies, will be essential to improve outcomes for these children, and coordinated national/international strategies will be required to achieve this. The UCL Institute of Child Health, Newcastle University Northern Institute for Cancer Research and the Institute of Cancer Research, play leading international roles in HR-PBT research and the clinical application of these findings. Unifying our research programmes offers a major opportunity to create a concerted network for the promotion, research and clinical advancement of HR-PBTs. Aims: This programme grant application provides the essential foundations for INSTINCT, a co-ordinated research/clinical network between our centres, focussed on undertaking state-of–the-art biological investigations in HR-PBTs, and advancing these into improved therapies. Our major aims are: • To improve treatment for children with HR-PBTs, by combining the expertise of leading scientists and clinicians from three major European centres, committed to turning biological discovery into effective new treatments. • To unify the most advanced science and clinical practice from each of the three centres and apply this knowledge to all HR-PBTs; accelerating discovery and forming the basis of future clinical breakthroughs. • To increase the profile of HR-PBT research to public, patient, academic and funding stakeholders. What INSTINCT aims to achieve: • A unified national network of research and clinical excellence. • Advanced knowledge of brain tumour biology. • New effective treatments. • Improved diagnosis. • Leading international clinical trials. • A focus for the promotion and funding of HR-PBT research. • Training researchers and clinicians of the future. In short, INSTINCT specifically aims to bridge the gap between biological discovery and clinical practice and make good the promise of the genomics revolution to improve the outlook for children with HR-PBTs.

Lay abstract: Background: Despite recent treatment advances (60-70% of patients now survive), ‘high-risk’ paediatric brain tumours (HR-PBTs) remain the leading cause of deaths from cancer in childhood. Advances in biological understanding, and their translation into effective therapies, will be essential to improve outcomes for these children, and coordinated national/international strategies will be required to achieve this. The UCL Institute of Child Health, Newcastle University Northern Institute for Cancer Research and the Institute of Cancer Research, play leading international roles in HR-PBT research and the clinical application of these findings. Unifying our research programmes offers a major opportunity to create a concerted network for the promotion, research and clinical advancement of HR-PBTs. Aims: This programme grant application provides the essential foundations for INSTINCT, a co-ordinated research/clinical network between our centres, focussed on undertaking state-of–the-art biological investigations in HR-PBTs, and advancing these into improved therapies. Our major aims are: • To improve treatment for children with HR-PBTs, by combining the expertise of leading scientists and clinicians from three major European centres, committed to turning biological discovery into effective new treatments. • To unify the most advanced science and clinical practice from each of the three centres and apply this knowledge to all HR-PBTs; accelerating discovery and forming the basis of future clinical breakthroughs. • To increase the profile of HR-PBT research to public, patient, academic and funding stakeholders. What INSTINCT aims to achieve: • A unified national network of research and clinical excellence. • Advanced knowledge of brain tumour biology. • New effective treatments. • Improved diagnosis. • Leading international clinical trials. • A focus for the promotion and funding of HR-PBT research. • Training researchers and clinicians of the future. In short, INSTINCT specifically aims to bridge the gap between biological discovery and clinical practice and make good the promise of the genomics revolution to improve the outlook for children with HR-PBTs.

Research activity codes: 2.6 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (AETIOLOGY);4.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (DETECTION);5.9 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (TREATMENT DEVELOPMENT)
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS