In the past, children with cancer tended to be treated according to the type of cancer they were diagnosed with. But we now know that every child’s cancer is unique. This means that, rather than using a ‘one size fits all’ approach, treatment needs to be personalised.
Our Zero Childhood Cancer Program
The Zero Childhood Cancer Program (ZERO) is Australia’s national precision medicine program for kids with cancer. Through ZERO, every child in Australia with cancer can have their cancer genomically analysed, and a report issued to their oncologist to help guide their care.
Children’s Cancer Institute joined forces with the Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children’s Hospital to launch ZERO in 2015. Today, more than 2500 children have been enrolled on ZERO and Australia is leading the world in precision medicine for children with cancer.
ZERO is showing just what’s possible when you combine cutting-edge research and technology with a multidisciplinary team approach to drive clinical care. Nowhere else in the world do children with cancer have the opportunity of benefiting from a precision program of this depth and impact."
- Professor Michelle Haber AM
What has ZERO achieved for children with cancer?
Children are alive today who almost certainly would not be, had they not joined ZERO. For other children, ZERO has added precious months or years to their lives.
The first results from ZERO showed that ZERO was not only able to identify the molecular cause or driver of most children’s cancers, but was also able to identify new — and in some cases life-saving — treatment options for many children with high-risk cancers.
A second study showed that children with high-risk cancer whose treatment was based on ZERO’s genomic analysis had more than double the 2-year survival rate of children whose treatment was not.
ZERO has proven that precision medicine achieves better outcomes for kids with cancer. As a result, precision medicine is now becoming the new standard of care in the Australian healthcare system.
ZERO is life-saving
Over 2,800 children have been enrolled on ZERO and it is truly changing the model of care for children with cancer. Here are just a couple of examples.
ZERO and the global childhood cancer research effort
ZERO’s results have implications for children diagnosed with cancer in any country. Every time a child’s cancer is analysed through ZERO, we learn more about childhood cancer. By sharing our learnings with researchers all around the world, ZERO is contributing to the global research effort and accelerating progress for the benefit of all children diagnosed with cancer in the future.
