The fight against children's cancer has been given a major boost with the opening of new world-class cancer research laboratories at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute at the Royal Children's Hospital.

A $1 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation helped fund the innovative partnership, which will see researchers working side by side with doctors and nurses caring for children with cancer, providing a unique opportunity for important discoveries.

The laboratories are the first part of the Children's Cancer Centre to open with the adjacent children's cancer wards due for completion in late 2006.

The $21 million Children's Cancer Centre project has been supported by State and Federal governments, Camp Quality, My Room, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and The Royal Children's Hospital.

'For Australian researchers to make important discoveries, our facilities must be world class,' said Murdoch Childrens Research Institute Director Professor Terry Dwyer.

New research from the Children's Cancer Centre suggests children affected by acute lymphatic leukaemia before the age of four were born to older mothers, whereas children diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukaemia at older ages were born to younger mothers.

The study, conducted in collaboration with the University of Melbourne involved obtaining detailed and extensive information from 400 families, where there was a known history of cancer.

'As different types of leukemia occur at different ages in children, the next step of the study will be to test if a mother's age is linked to the type of leukaemia that children suffer from,' said Children's Cancer Centre Head Professor David Ashley.