Harley Staples Cancer Trust based in Rutland joins forces with Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group in Leicester to fund research

A charity set up in memory of an eight-year-old boy has partnered with a leading children’s cancer organisation to fund innovative research into ways to stop young leukaemia patients from relapsing.

The Harley Staples Cancer Trust (HSCT) was established in 2010 after Harley died from B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia the year before.

Working alongside Leicester-based Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG), whose expertise will be used to administer the research, the trust has funded research which will investigate at how genetic errors in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) can lead to the cancer becoming resistant to treatment.

Katherine and Jamie Staples, Harley’s parents who live in Whissendine and set up the trust, said they are proud to be supporting research in his memory.

Katherine said: “Our son, Harley, was a fabulous boy. He was active, into his sports and always tried hard at everything he did. He was great company and such fun to be around.

“Harley never went to pieces when he was ill, and he never asked why it had to be him who had cancer. And he had every right to ask that - his treatment plan was aggressive and extremely gruelling with no relief.

“Now, many years after losing Harley, children are still being diagnosed with cancer every day. It breaks our hearts to see this. That’s why we have a special interest in funding research into rarer children's cancers, like subtypes of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, as that's what Harley had.”

Titled ‘Investigating how DNA cutting errors lead to childhood leukaemia coming back after treatment’, the new project will be led by Dr Joan Boyes, associate professor of molecular biology at the University of Leeds.

Dr Boyes said: “There have been remarkable improvements in the outcomes for children diagnosed with leukaemia over the past 40 years with a current five-year survival rate of over 90 per cent.

“Sadly, each year in the UK over 70 children with ALL still have their cancer come back and there are then few treatment options. It’s therefore essential to find ways to block disease progression and therefore prevent relapse.”

Dr Boyes is working on understanding a specific way that leukaemia cells acquire genetic mutations, a process she calls ‘cut-and-run’. The reaction happens because of a natural process inside our cells that cuts and combines pieces of DNA to make the vast variety of antibodies we need to fight off diseases.

This process uses an enzyme called recombinase to cut the DNA, but sometimes the enzyme cuts or joins DNA in the wrong place. The enzyme can then go on to cut in another place and run away to create more errors – leading to the name cut-and-run.

Dr Boyes said: “Recombinase enzymes can cause mutations in at least three different ways. This project aims to find out how often each type of reaction causes mutations that lead to relapse.

“We hope that some of these reactions could be stopped and, by understanding the relative contribution of each reaction, we hope to find a way to block particularly dangerous reactions. This could help prevent relapse for these patients.”

This project holds the potential to redefine how we approach treatment for ALL, offering hope to young patients and their families.

Ashley Ball-Gamble, CCLG CEO, said: “We’re delighted to have joined forces with the Harley Staples Cancer Trust again to fund more innovative leukaemia research.

“As childhood cancer charities, we are all working towards the same goal – a better future for children with cancer. Partnerships like this allow us to share skills and expertise so that more funds can be spent on research, without the duplication of resources.

“This project will give us a deeper understanding of why leukaemia progresses and potentially could lead to a new way of treating children with ALL. We’re proud to support such cutting-edge research.”

Katherine added: “CCLG work as a mediator between us and the researchers, sending out our brief to scientists and assessing all the research applications to ensure they are viable.

“We chose CCLG to help us with our funding because they are local to us, we trust them and really value the special work that they do.”

Find out more about the project at https://www.cclg.org.uk/our-research-projects/how-dna-cutting-errors-lead-to-childhood-leukaemia-relapse