The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust has joined forces with The Brain Tumour Charity to fund a year-long research project which will harness artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve brain tumour diagnosis times in children, reducing uncertainty for them and their families.
The partnership consists of each charity awarding £50,000, with The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust managing the whole project through their advisory panel and monitoring.
The year-long research project collaboration will embrace new technologies to investigate faster, more accurate diagnosis and better treatment for children with brain tumours, expertly led by Dr John Apps, Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Birmingham. The project title is: “Advancing Non-Invasive Brain Tumour Diagnosis through AI driven Clinical Decision Support.”
Brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer-related death in children in the UK, so making progress in this area is essential. These tumours are often first spotted on an MRI scan, which shows their size and location. However, to get an accurate diagnosis, a piece of the tumour usually needs to be removed through surgery. This means that children can wait up to four weeks for a final diagnosis, making it difficult for doctors to decide on the best treatment. It also causes a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety for families.
The research partnership will use advanced computer analysis (radiomics) and artificial intelligence (AI) to get much more information from MRI scans than the human eye can see. It will use a software tool called MIROR, which allows doctors to compare new scans with previous cases and predict the type of tumour using AI. The project will test how well this tool works over a year, helping to refine and expand it to cover more tumour types.
By using AI to support diagnosis and treatment planning, this research could lead to safer surgeries, fewer side effects, faster treatment decisions, and less uncertainty for patients and families affected by brain tumours.
The £50,000 funding for this groundbreaking research project awarded by The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, has been provided by several of the Trust’s determined fundraisers, including several of their special named funds called Ladybird Hero Funds, which are set up to honour a child’s legacy by raising money in their name.
Set up nine years ago, The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust is a growing research funder that concentrates on funding research into rare, aggressive childhood cancers, which typically have poorer survival rates than other childhood cancer types which receive relatively more research funding. Some of the funding that has made this award possible, comes from several of our amazing Ladybird Hero Funds, that each create a legacy of support for others experiencing childhood cancer, namely: Sophie’s Wish, Inspirational Issy, Ada Princess, Maya Superstar and Connal our Superhero.
Dr Jen Kelly, CEO of the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, explained:
“We are delighted to award this important grant in collaboration with The Brain Tumour Charity. Partnerships like this are vital to accelerating progress for children with cancer and bringing us closer to better, kinder treatments.
At the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, we are committed to improving outcomes for children with cancer, and funding high-quality research is central to this goal. By working together, we can drive the scientific advances needed to change the outlook for those affected by childhood brain tumours. It’s a privilege to collaborate with The Brain Tumour Charity, and we look forward to the impact it will help achieve for children and families affected by brain tumours.”
Dr Michele Afif, Chief Executive at The Brain Tumour Charity, said:
“We’re proud to be co-funding this pioneering research project with the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust. By embracing new technologies like advanced MRI imaging and AI, this work could significantly speed up diagnosis for children with brain tumours – helping families get answers faster during an incredibly difficult time.”
Dr John Apps, Associate Clinical Professor and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Neuro-Oncology at Birmingham University and Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, added:
“This grant will really help support us in moving advanced MRI image analysis and AI towards use for patients. So far, we have evaluated the performance of this approach using mathematical approaches, however we will be able to begin testing how well it performs on data from new patients the computer has not previously seen. The project will also allow us to move forward with making newer MRI scanning technologies available to children with brain tumours. Grants such as this enable us to maintain our momentum at translating advances in research into improved care in the clinic.”
The project that has received the award support from both charities is entitled: “Advancing Non-Invasive Brain Tumour Diagnosis through AI driven Clinical Decision Support”. For more detailed information on the project, please visit the research section of their website, or directly contact The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust.
