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The BRAvE team seeks to increase the number of children who can benefit from treatments targeted at attributes of individual tumours, battle hard-to-treat cancers, and reduce long-term health impacts.

“There is nothing more we can do to cure your child’s cancer.” Patrick Sullivan can’t get that moment from 15 years ago out of his head. By then, his son Finn had been through chemotherapy, numerous surgeries, radiation and specialized treatments in Boston and Spokane.

The Better Responses through Avatars and Evidence (BRAvE) Initiative at BC Children’s Hospital is using cutting-edge research to revolutionize precision treatments for children with cancer.

At least once or twice a month, Dr. Rod Rassekh gets asked by colleagues at BC Children’s Hospital to meet with a cancer patient and their family so he can advise them on using medical marijuana.

Mutations in the Breast Cancer 1 (BRCA1) gene or Breast Cancer 2 (BRCA2) gene are well-known to substantially increase a woman’s risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. They have also been implicated in the development of cancer in other tissues, including some childhood cancers.

A new study led by investigators at BC Children’s Hospital has identified a metabolic marker that can flag whether a patient is likely to develop a disease brought on by lifesaving bone-marrow transplants. Their results were recently published in Blood. 

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common pediatric brain tumour and usually affects children and infants under 10 years old. Current treatment for MB involves aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, which can lead to harmful long-term side effects.