CAC2 Childhood Cancer Community News Digest (March 24-30)

March 31, 2025 Community News, Guest Blogs, News Digest

Assorted News from the Last Week:

A man who battled childhood cancer has received the first known transplant of sperm-producing stem cells, in a study aimed at restoring the fertility of cancer’s youngest survivors.

Projections suggest that 45.6% of childhood cancer survivors would die before reaching 65 years of age, compared to 15.0% of the general population.

Children constitute 7.2% of annual cancer cases in Nigeria.

U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) introduced the Give Kids a Chance Act, which would give children with cancer access to combination therapy trials. The bill will also incentivize pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments for rare pediatric diseases.

How ‘collective intelligence’ is tackling rare childhood cancers in South Korea.

New undergraduate research from biomedical engineering student Arjun Karnwal is being used by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to improve cancer radiation treatments.

Findings of a recent multicenter study led by Mariella Filbin, MD, Ph.D. suggest that platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) could be a potential therapeutic target for pediatric high-grade gliomas.

Researchers find inherited genetic condition raises risk of developing two rare pediatric cancers: Wilms tumor and pineoblastoma.

Upcoming Webinars, Online Opportunities, and Meetings:

CAC2 will host a free public Webinar on April 17, 2025 noon-1:00 PM ET on The Role of AI from Diagnosis to Treatment for Childhood Cancer. Click here for more information and to register.

AUDREY’S CHILDREN is the true story of Dr. Audrey Evans, a pioneering pediatric oncologist who developed the revolutionary staging system for treating Neuroblastoma and who co-founded the Ronald McDonald House. In theaters nationwide – March 28th!  Click here for more information.

The Coalition Against Childhood Cancer will hold its 2025 Annual Summit, hosted by Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC and presented by Day One Biopharmaceuticals. This annual event reflects the CAC2 values and mission by providing top-notch educational programming, designing multiple opportunities for members to connect and engage, and showcasing the ongoing efforts of our members who are working for a future without childhood cancers.  June 15-17.  Register here: CAC2 Annual Summit Registration

Cheerful Hearts hosts online game time for children ages 6 through 14 years old every Sunday at 4:00 pm-4:30 EST. Click here for more information and to register.

Recent Recordings:

Moderator Jason Fangusaro, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, is joined by Sabine Mueller, MD, PhD, of UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Francisco, and Lindsay Kilburn, MD, of George Washington University School of Medicine inWashington, D.C., to explore pediatric low-grade glioma, the most common pediatric brain tumor, and what makes it different from other brain tumors and oncologic diseases in children.

CAC2 member Mark Levine hosts a podcast called, “Help and Hope Happen Here” (available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts). Access recent podcasts with CAC2 Members (and visit Help and Hope Happen Here for interviews with other CAC2 members and thought leaders from around the community):

  • Joe McDonough (CAC2 Member Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation) and others speak about Audrey’s Children.

Take Action:

The Grayson Foundation and The American Childhood Cancer Organization are partnering to bring a Childhood Cancer Awareness specialty license plate to Tennessee residents.  While Tennessee has several children’s hospital license plates, it does not have a general childhood cancer awareness license plate with a gold ribbon.  This is a simple way to honor all the young warriors across the state who are in treatment, in remission, or in Heaven.  The state requires 1,000 preorders before they will begin to produce and issue the new tag.  Will you please help us by sharing this information with your contacts in Tennessee?  If we do not reach 1,000 preorders by 6/30/25, the tag won’t happen.  The link to preorder a license tag is: https://s.acco.org/Reserve-TN-Plate

The 2025 Evan Lindberg & Erik Ludwinski College Scholarship Program is open to high school seniors who are survivors of a high-risk cancer or in treatment for a high-risk malignancy.  Students must be accepted into a 4-year undergraduate institution and demonstrate a need for financial assistance.  For information and to apply.

Four childhood cancer-related bills have been introduced in the first three months of this year.  Read about them and encourage your Members of Congress to support them all.

CAC2 Innovation Council Recommendation: ARYA-2 Clinical Trial for Pediatric Liver Cancer

Overview of the Opportunity: This request concerns a Phase 1/2 clinical trial, evaluating ET140203 T Cells in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory Hepatoblastoma, Hepatocellular Neoplasm-Not Otherwise Specified, or Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The Requester: Nicole Nunez, Associate Director of Patient Engagement and Regulatory Affairs (PhD), Eureka Therapeutics, Inc.

The Type of Request: Information sharing about a clinical trial opportunity for children with liver cancer.  Sharing information about a trial does not imply that CAC2 is recommending or endorsing. Each patient should check with their medical professionals.

The Ask:  Inform CAC2 Members about the ARYA-2 clinical trial (NCT04634357) which is a multi-center, Phase 1/2 clinical trial currently in the dose escalation phase, evaluating ET140203 T Cells in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory Hepatoblastoma, Hepatocellular Neoplasm-Not Otherwise Specified, or Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Please share the clinical trial flyer and help connect the trial team with any entities that can help bring awareness about this trial. Since pediatric liver cancer is an ultra rare disease (less than 200 kids diagnosed every year in the US), the trial team is doing everything it can to let doctors, patients and patient community groups know that this trial is open and actively recruiting.

Supporting Documentation: The trial is currently open at Dana-Farber Boston Children’s Cancer Institute, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Autologous ET140203 T-cell therapy is designed to specifically target and destroy AFP/HLA-A2-positive liver cancer, while minimizing potential side effects traditionally associated with cancer treatment.

Eureka Therapeutics provides financial support for the patient and one caregiver to cover travel, food and accommodations during their participation in the trial.

Informational Flyer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fYAQL-yBVbzV4lv4xrKYEUQUmin7GR0R/view?usp=share_link

Patient friendly website at: www.eurekaconnectme.com

Corporate website is: www.eurekatherapeutics.com

For more information on the clinical trial, including details regarding eligibility criteria, please visit the clinicaltrials.gov website page: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04634357

 

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