Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Ongoing pain in children can affect normal brain development and behaviour. This can be particularly problematic for childhood cancer patients who can experience painful reactions to the chemotherapy used to treat their illness (e.g., pain in the joints, liver, hands/feet, and along the digestive tract). However, despite being treated with the same chemotherapy, some patients develop these painful reactions while others do not, suggesting a potential genetic cause. I aim to study 896 patients who have developed painful reactions to chemotherapy to identify genetic causes that predict the likelihood of developing these painful reactions. We will also ask patient caregivers affected by painful reactions to chemotherapy to share their experiences with us. The genetic causes identified in this study, in combination with patient caregiver perspectives, will ultimately be used to develop recommendations for predictive genetic testing in order to predict patients most likely to develop these painful reactions. This will enable clinicians in Canada to better manage pain in childhood cancer patients according to a patient's genetics and needs/values.