International Childhood Oncology Network to Host Inaugural Meeting at Annual ASCO Conference

Network of academic and clinical researchers converge to advance pediatric cancer research

CARLSBAD, Calif., June 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Childhood Oncology Network (ICON) will host its inaugural meeting at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago June 3 to bring together academic and clinical researchers who will collaborate and advance the understanding and future treatments of pediatric cancer.

Launched in collaboration with the Center for Personalized Medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and Thermo Fisher Scientific, ICON aims to expand a global community spanning academic and clinical researchers who collaborate by sharing data using a standardized assay, best practices and experimental protocols specific to childhood and young adult cancers. Advancements in this area have not kept at pace with clinical research in adult cancers, creating an underserved patient population. It is estimated that one in 285 children born in the U.S. this year alone will be diagnosed with cancer before their 20^th birthday.¹

“Until recently, little was known about the genetic drivers in childhood and young adult cancers to appropriately manage the disease,” said Joydeep Goswami, president of clinical next-generation sequencing and oncology at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “ICON provides a much-needed forum for clinical researchers to collaborate specifically in this area for the future development of targeted treatments. In support of this effort, we are committed to providing advanced technologies and establishing broader partnerships with leading clinical researchers and cancer centers, such as the National Cancer Institute, to deepen the understanding of childhood cancer, and to enable more survival stories like that of pediatric cancer patient Maddie Pagel.”

In an effort to standardize analysis across the globe, data sets contributed by ICON members will derive from the Oncomine Childhood Cancer Research Assay, a comprehensive, next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel, which was also designed in collaboration with CHLA’s Center for Personalized Medicine and leading scientists and pediatric oncologists. The assay interrogates 203 childhood cancer-associated genes representing multiple gene classes and more than 1,700 fusion transcripts. ICON members will have the opportunity to upload and share data on the Childhood Cancer Knowledge Base (CCKB), which has been created and is administered by bioinformatics experts at CHLA’s Center for Personalized Medicine.

“At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, we have a longstanding commitment to supporting pediatric cancer patients and to developing treatments that mitigate the side effects associated with cancer therapies,” said Alexander R. Judkins, M.D., Pathologist-in-Chief and Executive Director of the Center for Personalized Medicine (CPM) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “CHLA’s Center for Personalized Medicine took the logical next step in co-developing this panel to further our understanding of cancer in children and young adults.”

To learn more about ICON and the Oncomine Childhood Cancer Research Assay, please visit Thermo Fisher’s booth (#5135) at ASCO, McCormick Place in Chicago, June 1-5.

¹ https://www.acco.org/us-childhood-cancer-statistics/

About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of more than $20 billion and approximately 70,000 employees globally. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics, deliver medicines to market and increase laboratory productivity. Through our premier brands - Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services - we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive services. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

Media Contact Information:
Mauricio Minotta
Thermo Fisher Scientific
+1 760 929 2456
Mauricio.minotta@thermofisher.com