You’re making new hope possible

For families of children and teenagers who have relapsed with blood cancer, hope is everything.

It can be the force that keeps them going when facing the daunting challenge of ‘going through it all again.’

Excitingly, your generosity is funding a new trial that’s offering this critical hope to families impacted by childhood and teenage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Giving second chances

After years of dedicated research and new targeted treatments, the outlook for children and young adults with ALL is improving with more than 80 percent now cured.

But for up to 20 percent of families, their lives will turn upside down with the devastating news of a relapse. Heartbreakingly, children and teenagers who relapse multiple times are simply running out of options.

Your support is working hard towards changing this – so that every child with blood cancer survives.

Promising research

Enter RAVEN, an innovative clinical trial that is harnessing the power of international collaboration to deliver better outcomes for children and teenagers who have relapsed with ALL. The trial is examining the effectiveness of combining two drugs, venetoclax and navitoclax.

Developed by St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the U.S., preliminary trials combining these drugs have shown promising results. Now, through RAVEN, Australian hospitals are working together to offer a desperately needed new treatment for children who no longer respond to current treatments.

Hope across Australia

Thanks to co-funding by the Leukaemia Foundation and Snowdome Foundation, the first Australian patients are set to be recruited by the end of the year.

“If it’s shown to be effective, it will offer potential treatments for patients who’ve run out of other options.”
– Dr Michael Osborn, principal investigator for the Australia & New Zealand RAVEN Trial Team