Tour de Rocks Ltd - 19 for Nineteen

Change the future for children and young people with sarcoma.

Anya’s Wish is a world leading research program at Children’s Cancer Institute, focused on finding more effective and far less toxic treatments for osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer that overwhelmingly affects teenagers and young adults. 

Anya’s Wish is named in memory of Anya Zuber, a vivacious and radiant 19-year-old who passed away from osteosarcoma in 2020. 

This aggressive cancer, which most often affects teenagers and young adults, continues to carry a very poor prognosis. For those diagnosed with advanced disease, or who experience relapse, only around one in five will survive. 

Anya wanted better. Through Anya’s Wish, we are working to deliver the safer, more effective treatments in her honour. 

What is the aim of the research? 

For young people diagnosed with osteosarcoma, current treatment options are extremely limited. Standard therapies, major surgery, often amputation, and intensive chemotherapy, have barely changed in four decades. They can cause serious side effects, and tragically, they still fail far too many patients. 

Led by Associate Professor Emmy Fleuren at Children’s Cancer Institute Anya’s Wish is dedicated to developing new, targeted treatments that are not only more effective, but significantly less harmful to young bodies. The research focuses on: 

• Identifying novel, highly specific drugs that directly target osteosarcoma cells 
• Combining targeted therapies to overcome treatment resistance 
• Understanding how and why these drugs work, and which young patients will benefit most 
• Exploring whether these discoveries may also help treat other aggressive sarcomas in children 

The goal is simple and urgent: kinder, smarter, more effective treatments that offer real hope for children and young people. 

Thank You!