The Impact Of Developmental Haemostasis On The Pharmacokinetics And Pharmacodynamics Of Heparin In Children.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$283,676.00
Summary
Unfractionated Heparin (UFH) is the most commonly used anticoagulant (blood thinning drug) in children. Despite this, the clinical evidence, in terms of reported treatment failures and bleeding complications, suggests the drug is used suboptimally in children compared to adults.This likely relfects the lack of specific studies of UFH in children. This study will, for the first time, define the pharmacokinetics-dynamics of UFH in children, allowing age-specific protocols to be developed. Pharmaco ....Unfractionated Heparin (UFH) is the most commonly used anticoagulant (blood thinning drug) in children. Despite this, the clinical evidence, in terms of reported treatment failures and bleeding complications, suggests the drug is used suboptimally in children compared to adults.This likely relfects the lack of specific studies of UFH in children. This study will, for the first time, define the pharmacokinetics-dynamics of UFH in children, allowing age-specific protocols to be developed. Pharmacological modelling of this data will likely have implications for the use of other anticoagulants in children.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Microtubule Composition In The Efficacy Of Antimicrotubule Agents In Paediatric Malignancy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$173,380.00
Summary
To enhance the management of both childhood and adult cancers improved understanding of the processes responsible for tumour aggressiveness and drug resistance are required. Microtubules are important structural components of cells which are crucial for normal cell division. This makes microtubules excellent targets for anticancer drugs which can disrupt microtubules and kill cancer cells. This proposal will identify whether the microtubule composition of a tumour cell will predict for the aggre ....To enhance the management of both childhood and adult cancers improved understanding of the processes responsible for tumour aggressiveness and drug resistance are required. Microtubules are important structural components of cells which are crucial for normal cell division. This makes microtubules excellent targets for anticancer drugs which can disrupt microtubules and kill cancer cells. This proposal will identify whether the microtubule composition of a tumour cell will predict for the aggressiveness of certain cancers, and whether this influences which tumours will respond to the vinca alkaloids. The vinca alkaloids are an important class of natural product drugs which disrupt microtubules and are particularly effective in the treatment of adult and childhood cancers. Unfortunately, some cancer cells fail to respond to this treatment due to the development of drug resistance. This proposal addresses vinca alkaloid resistance in children?s cancer and will determine why certain cancer cells fail treatment. Furthermore, this study will identify the role of certain components of microtubules that appear to be related to drug resistance in leukaemia and neuroblastoma cells and whose role is unknown. Chemotherapeutic drugs, such as the vinca alkaloids, are important in the treatment of cancer and knowledge about their interaction with their cellular target will improve the design of new drugs and treatment outcome.Read moreRead less