Curing Children: New UZH Magazine Dossier on Pediatric Cancer Research

Pediatric oncologist Jean-Pierre Bourquin explains why blood cancer in children can now be treated so successfully and how new immunotherapies aim to reduce long-term side effects (Gentle Treatment for Leukemia). A research team led by Fabio Steffen shows how drug response profiling and artificial intelligence help tailor drug combinations to individual young patients (The Optimum Combination of Drugs). Psychologist Anna Graf describes how she supports children and families through treatment with toys, books and colorful bead necklaces (A Bead of Courage for Every Treatment — English translation not yet published; German original). And the story of Kilian Käslin, who developed a particularly aggressive form of leukemia as a baby, illustrates what a months-long fight for a child’s life means for a family and its care team (Kilian’s Battle).

All articles were produced in connection with the new National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) “Children & Cancer”, led by UZH and the University of Lausanne, which aims to strengthen pediatric cancer research in Switzerland.

New articles are continuously being published on www.uzh.ch.

Note: UZH News is publishing English translations of the dossier’s articles gradually. The article on Anna Graf’s psycho-oncology work was not yet available in English at the time of writing — link above points to the German original.