Global campaign raises awareness and support

The Little Princess Trust is very proud to play its part in marking International Childhood Cancer Day. 

Thursday’s event is a global collaborative campaign to raise awareness about childhood cancer, and to express support for children and adolescents with cancer.

Through our free wig provision service, we encounter many children who are undergoing treatment for cancer.

Their bravery and outlook on life constantly inspire us to continue to provide as many real hair wigs as we can to children and young people.

Our vision is to give Hair and Hope to every child and young person with cancer until there is no longer a need for what we do – and that is why the research which we also fund is so important to us.

International Childhood Cancer Day reminds us once again of the importance of working with the research community to bring together knowledge and expertise in the search for kinder and more effective treatments.

The Little Princess Trust recognises the importance of collaboration in planning and undertaking research in childhood cancer and the relative rarity of many childhood cancers means that clinical trials are often international.

Therefore, we welcome collaborative research proposals from institutions in the UK or the Republic of Ireland who are working with overseas partners. 

One great example of this is research we have funded at Southampton University.

The project, which aims to explore new therapies against childhood brain cancer, is looking to see how the Zika virus kills aggressive brain tumour cells.

Southampton University is collaborating with the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil where the initial discovery was first made.  

This comprehensive study, led by Dr Rob Ewing, will use powerful gene and protein expression techniques to decipher how Zika kills brain tumour cells.

Another project funded by The Little Princess Trust has seen a researcher from the University of Cambridge work with peers in Uganda to find ways to diagnose endemic Burkitt lymphoma sooner.

Dr Suzanne Turner has worked with scientists 4,000 miles away in Kampala to look for blood tests that will identify at risk children so they can start treatment as soon as symptoms appear.

International Childhood Cancer Day has many incredible goals and we hope that the research projects we’ve funded, which now numbers more than 120, will play their part in finding kinder and more effective treatments for children diagnosed with cancer.

For more on International Childhood Cancer Day, click here.