TWINS WHO HOLD KEY TO A CURE FOR LEUKAEMIA.

ONCE a month, the phone rings in the Murphy household bringing vital news from a hospital laboratory. And every month, so far, the family has breathed a collective sigh of relief. Waiting to find out if their four-year-old daughter Isabella is developing childhood leukaemia has become a way of life for the Murphys. Every four weeks, Sarah Murphy drives her daughter to the Princess Royal University Hospital in Kent where an oncology nurse takes a blood sample from the pretty, bubbly and very healthy toddler in order to monitor a genetic abnormality. Should the test show an increase in the number of abnormal cells, it will be a sign that the disease is taking hold and that a course of treatment, mainly involving chemotherapy, is her one chance of survival. Pre-leukaemic cells develop during pregnancy and generally remain in a child's body for around ten years. So there's another five to six years to go before doctors can be sure that Isabella is clear. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]