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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n A baby was found to have a rare eye cancer and his sight is expected to be saved thanks to a new screening tool which is being assessed for widespread use.<\/p>\n Families<\/a> across England<\/a> are taking part in a \u201cworld-leading research study\u201d which is screening 100,000 newborn babies in England for dozens of genetic conditions.<\/p>\n One mother, whose son was diagnosed with a rare cancer picked up by the study, described how the results came \u201ccompletely out of the blue\u201d.<\/p>\n Vicky Underhay\u2019s son Freddie was enrolled into the Generation Study which sees newborn babies offered whole genome sequencing using blood samples, usually taken from the umbilical cord shortly after birth.<\/p>\n Just four weeks after he was born at Sheffield Teaching Hospital in April, Freddie was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of eye cancer, which was picked up as a result of screening.<\/p>\n Freddie\u2019s father Joey Underhay said that taking part in the study had changed his son\u2019s life \u201cphenomenally\u201d.<\/p>\n The youngster, now six-months-old, was diagnosed with hereditary retinoblastoma, caused by a change in his RB1 gene.<\/p>\n Only around 44 children are diagnosed with retinoblastoma every year in the UK.<\/p>\n Catching the cancer early is crucial to save the sight of affected children.<\/p>\n When there is no known family history of the disease, the cancer often goes undetected until later when the disease has progressed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were no signs that anything was wrong \u2013 he was a normal little baby, so the results came totally out of the blue,\u201d said Mrs Underhay.<\/p>\n Within four days of finding the genetic abnormality Freddie was seen by experts at Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital, where a a tumour was found.<\/p>\n Freddie was given a combination of laser treatment and chemotherapy and his doctors are hopeful they can save his vision.<\/p>\n Mrs Underhay, 36, told the PA news agency: \u201cThey said we are incredibly lucky to have caught it this early.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was such an amazingly quick turnaround.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that the couple had spoken to other families of children with the same condition who spent months and months trying to get a diagnosis.<\/p>\n Mr Underhay, 37, said: \u201cOur decision to join the Generation Study has changed Freddie\u2019s life phenomenally.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were told that the first six months is vital in diagnosing and treating the condition.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no telling at what point it would have been discovered if we hadn\u2019t taken part and what might have happened.<\/p>\n \u201cThe care that Freddie has received, and us as parents as well, has been second to none. We can\u2019t thank everyone enough for all that they\u2019re doing for Freddie.\u201d<\/p>\n He told PA: \u201cIf we had not taken part in the study there could have been a completely different outcome<\/p>\n \u201cHe was just a normal little baby, you would have not known there was anything wrong with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Mrs Underhay added: \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that this kind of testing will be readily available to any parent who wants it for their child in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Joe Abbott, Freddie\u2019s ophthalmologist, said: \u201cThe chances of protecting Freddie\u2019s eyesight have been greatly improved by finding out about his eye tumours earlier, thanks to the family participating in the Generation Study.\u201d<\/p>\n