Research at The University of Manchester has made a significant impact nationally and internationally on improving the outcome for children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Survival rates of children with ALL in the west have risen from 60% to 90%, though in countries with limited resources ALL continues to be a fatal disease. Globally, the survival rate for children with ALL is around 40%.
Professor Vaskar Saha has helped to increase survival rates by 10% in the UK and in India. By linking five major paediatric centres, he has created a national hub of cancer centres which work together to agree standards of care based on the principles of the NHS. They have implemented agreed, uniform standards of care and treatment across all of the treatment centres and formed the Indian Childhood Collaborative Leukaemia (ICiCLe) group.