TYPE OF SUPPORT
Research Background
Despite significant advances in personalised medicine for adult cancers, pediatrics oncology remains underserved, even though cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death in children in Australia.
Current treatments often extrapolate adult data, overlooking critical biological differences between pediatrics and adult cancers.
This study aims to characterise the immunogenicity landscape of pediatric cancers using publicly available next-generation sequencing data to inform more tailored therapeutic strategies for children.
QCIF Role
Dr Magdalena Antczak from the QCIF Bioinformatics team leads the immunogenomic analysis of paediatric cancers using publicly available next-generation sequencing data from the Zero Childhood Cancer Program.
She deployed and refined the nextNEOpi pipeline to identify neo peptides with high immunogenic potential. Drawing from whole genome and transcriptome data from 120 patients, she characterised tumour mutational burden, HLA haplotypes, single-nucleotide variants, gene fusions, and immune cell composition across a diverse cohort of paediatric malignancies.
Research Outcome & Impact
Although the project is ongoing, initial findings already underscore the biological distinctiveness of childhood cancers and expose the limitations of adult-derived treatment models.
The analysis reveals immunogenomic divergence not only between paediatric and adult cancers, but also among paediatric cancer types themselves. By characterising the neopeptide landscape and immune profiles across tumour subtypes, this study contributes critical insights to the underexplored field of paediatric cancer immunogenomics.
These findings lay the foundation for more personalised, biologically informed therapies - bringing the field closer to equitable, effective treatment strategies for children.
Working on this project has been deeply rewarding. I have used real data from children with cancer to help find better, more personalised treatments - ones designed for their unique biology, not borrowed from adult models. It is clear that kids' cancers are different, and they deserve therapies that reflect that.
I have also really valued the chance to collaborate with the Ian Frazer Centre. They are doing important work, and being part of a team committed to improving children's care has been an honour. Together, we are making progress toward treatments that truly fit the needs of young patients.
Dr Magdalena Antczak, Bioinformatician, QCIF
