Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital in Sweden have determined how children’s immune systems react to different kinds of cancer depending on their age. The study, which is published in the journal Cell, reveals significant differences between the immune response of children and adults, and has the potential to lead to new tailored treatments for children with cancer.

“The activation of the immune system is crucial to our ability to fight cancer, but differs between children and adults,” says Petter Brodin, professor of paediatric immunology at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, and paediatrician at the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital. “If we’re to properly treat childhood cancer, we need to find out how the child’s immune system is activated and regulated in children with cancer and what factors affect their immune responses.”

New dimension of precision medicine

The study comprised 191 children between the ages of 0 and 18 who were diagnosed with different types of solid tumours at the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital between 2018 and 2024. The researchers analysed tumour tissue and blood samples to determine the genetic mutations in the tumours and ascertain which genes are and are not active in the immune system.

“Precision medicine in cancer has mostly focused on the tumour properties,” explains Professor Brodin. “By characterising the immune system, we’re introducing an entirely new dimension that will be instrumental in shaping the future of childhood…