Category Archives: Pediatric Cancer

The Medical Minute: Research Continues Improving the Odds for Kids with Cancer

Dr. Valerie Brown, clinical director of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Program at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, said that although cancer treatment has improved substantially over the last 50 years, there’s still a long way to go.

Survival rates have doubled from 40 percent to 80 percent among standard risk patients since the 1970s, Brown said. That’s the good news. But one out of five children still die from the disease.

“We’ve sort of reached our limitations for how to shuffle the different standard chemotherapy agents,” she said. “We have used these drugs as intensely as possible and in as many different combinations as possible.”

“We’ve reached the limit with these drugs, and yet a proportion of children will still die from their cancer,” Brown said.

That is why Brown and other pediatric oncologists and researchers have focused their efforts on understanding what gives high-risk patients’ cancer cells a survival advantage. Her expertise is acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL, the most common childhood cancer.

Recent findings have revealed a “kinase signature” genetically programmed within the leukemia cells in patients who have a harder time achieving remission. Those patients are predominantly Hispanic and Native American. This discovery has led to the incorporation of novel drugs that target this “kinase signature.” Brown believes this discovery will lead to genetic testing of a patient’s cancer cells in order to personalize the treatment course as being the standard at the time of a cancer diagnosis.

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Will Ferrell hates cancer — and he’ll play video games on Twitch to prove it

Actor Will Ferrell, who starred in films like Anchorman and Elf, is asking the gaming community to help him raise at least $375,000 as part of an IndieGogo crowdfunding campaign to benefit non-profit organizations Cancer for College and DonateGames. If the project reaches its goal, Ferrell promises to spend Oct. 26 playing video games on Twitch. The event will feature special items for people who donate, like a tube of “Will Ferrell’s SuperMegaUVBlastMax: Gamer’s Sunscreen.” And everyone who contributes is entered into a sweepstakes to travel to San Francisco and take on Ferrell in a battle of gaming skill. You can get all of the details at WillFerrellHatesCancer.org.

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Man takes 101 photos of cancer courage

Photographer Peter Doyle is the parent of a healthy 3-year-old boy. Sitting in the cancer wing of a pediatric hospital for business, he had an epiphany as he watched the families make their way past him.

“(They) were just like my own little family. At least they had been like mine until they were suddenly engulfed with the stress and fear that comes with hearing your child’s cancer diagnosis. My wife and I have a bright-eyed, curious, three-year-old son. Feeling that momentary panic of what would we do if our world was ever thrown topsy-turvy by similar tidings, I asked myself where we would find support and encouragement? The answer came swiftly: Who better to extend a helpful word of hope than these very families surrounding me? The journey of photographing 101 childhood cancer warriors and survivors leading me across America began that very night.”

Doyle began a journey around America, photographing children with cancer and having them write about their own stories. Childhood Cancer Portraits is a collection of 101 portraits and handwritten notes of hope, wisdom and encouragement from children with cancer. Twenty-two of the children featured in Doyle’s just released book are from Atlanta.

Up to 50% of the profits from the book will go to childhood cancer non profits and the families of the children featured in the book, to help pay for medical expenses.

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Get the Book

Kansas boy with cancer asks for superhero birthday, world answers

Michigan children’s hospital to get $250,000 grant

“The generous support from Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels is going to allow us to pursue an exciting new area of investigation that we are optimistic will lead to better therapy for Ewing sarcoma patients,” Lawlor said. “This research is particularly innovative since it involves new partnerships with other investigators from diverse disciplines across the University of Michigan. We are confident that by working together we are going to make more important discoveries and make them faster.”

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Devon Still and Bengals Take Stance Against Pediatric Cancer

An ESPN report by Coley Harvey really brought to light how close to home Pediatric Cancer has hit the Bengals organization and Devon Still. In June, Still found out his four year old daughter has stage-4 Neuroblastoma cancer and a 50-50 shot at survival. As a father, I know it would be hard to find out news like that, but Still has battled on while earning a spot on the Bengals practice squad.

The Cincinnati Bengals (and Devon Still) decided to take it one step further, not only to ensure that Still had a paycheck and health insurance for his daughter, but to contribute to the effort directly

On top of the Bengals donating the proceeds from Still’s jersey sales, Devon Still has also set up a fundraiser at pldgit.com. You can sign up to donate money per sack. Proceeds from Still’s Fundraiser will benefit the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which happen to be leaders in research for pediatric cancer.

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ESPN Interview

Virginia boy raising money for kids’ cancer research

And while “Mini” Timmy Tyrrell turns 10 on Monday, he’s been raising money for kids with cancer since he was six years old. He vows to never stop; in 2010, his friend Ella Day was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

“He saw the need and he wanted to help,” Ella Day’s mother, Karen Day, says of “Mini.” “He wanted to do anything he could do to help, [for] a six-year-old, that to me is astonishing.”

On the eve of his birthday, “Mini” has raised more than $200,000 for cancer research. Sunday, at the E.G. Smith Baseball Complex in Manassas, 400 players attended the third-annual kickball tournament to raise money for children with cancer.

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Mini’s Mission Site