New film highlights the vital role of a scientist in finding kinder treatments for childhood cancer

The drug might actually help reawaken the immune system in patients so that we might be able to use the patient’s own immune system to help fight the cancer, and then also have memory of that so the body will remember and it will stop the cancer coming back.

In a film produced by Children with Cancer UK, Dr Zoe Walters, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, shares how she is leading a team of researchers to find kinder and more effective ways of treating the most common type of soft tissue cancer to occur in children, rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). 

In 2014, Children with Cancer UK funded a fellowship for Dr Walters to research the new use of a drug called an EZH2 inhibitor that is in use for other adult cancers to be used to treat RMS in children. She has identified a protein called EZH2 that is present at abnormally high levels in tumour tissue and is researching to see whether medicating against EZH2 will stop RMS cells from growing and be potentially curative.

Dr Walters explains:

What we’re now starting to realise is that the drug might actually help reawaken the immune system in patients so that we might be able to use the patient’s own immune system to help fight the cancer, and then also have memory of that so the body will remember and it will stop the cancer coming back. And that’s the ultimate hope for this particular drug.

Every year in the UK around 55 children are diagnosed with RMS, a cancer that affects connective tissues such as the muscle. Available treatments have remained largely unchanged for 20 years and although they are effective for some children, can cause long-term side effects that affect their normal development. Treatments with limited long-term side effects are needed so that more children can recover and lead a normal life. 

Children with Cancer UK works closely with scientists and medical experts to help pioneer science and innovation in paediatric cancer research. In 2023, the charity invested over £6 million into vital research, funding 11 new research grants. Dr Walters was one of the charity’s first Research Fellows in 2014 and her research funded by the charity is now published in the Clinical Epigenetics Journal. She talks about the charity’s research grant in the film: “It’s almost indescribable to get this funding. It really was life changing. It was the thing that allowed me to pursue my dream. 

I just want to say a massive thank you to everybody who has done, is thinking about, or is in any way connected with the charity. Without your support, generosity and funding, we wouldn’t be able to do this type of work and we wouldn’t be able to find new, better, less harmful treatments for these patients.

Dr Sultana Choudhry, Head of Research at Children with Cancer UK, said: 

Research is integral to driving forward our vision of a world where every child and young person survives a cancer diagnosis. Every day in the UK, 10 children and young people receive a cancer diagnosis and have to face tough treatments often lasting years. Many will have long-term side-effects that may significantly impact their lives forever. By funding much needed research projects such as Dr Walters’, we are able to support the development of kinder treatments so more children will get the chance to grow up and live their life to the fullest.

The Real Stories campaign is a video series produced by Children with Cancer UK that hears from different people involved with childhood cancer.

Notes to Editors:

About Children with Cancer UK:
Children with Cancer UK is the leading children and young people’s cancer charity in the UK. Our vision is for every child and young person to survive cancer. We are working to improve survival rates and the long-term quality of life for those that do, we are also striving to find ways to prevent cancer in the future. We are dedicated to raising and investing funds into vital research that helps us understand childhood cancers and improves treatments. We support families as they navigate treatment and life beyond cancer. What began as a small memorial charity in 1988, has evolved into the leading charity for children and young people affected by cancer, raising more than £300 million and investing in over 300 pioneering research projects.

Press Enquiries:

For all press enquiries, please email media@childrenwithcancer.org.uk or call 0800 222 9000 and ask for the media team.