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Assorted News from Last Week: Congress approved the fiscal year 2022 omnibus spending package on March 11.  It included great news for the childhood cancer community:  the STAR Act will receive $30M and the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative will receive $50M.   Pediatric cancer mortality and survival has only improved over the past 40 years in the United States (US) but disparities remain. However, there are often various factors that play a role including age, race/ethnicity, cancer site, and economic status, which can change the outcome or treatments of individuals.   In one of the most complicated evacuations likely ever managed from […]

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Assorted news from last week: Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, is senior author on a new study that shows healthier hearts in long-term childhood cancer survivors treated with a new drug, dexrazoxane, to protect their hearts from heart-damaging chemotherapy — even in those treated nearly 20 years ago. Survivors of childhood cancer who became pregnant in adulthood are as likely to have healthy babies as those without a history of cancer, according to a new study. Their children also didn’t have higher risks of birth defects or other health problems at birth.  However, the study does suggest that these women face [...] Read more

Assorted news from last week: The story of Moonshot4Kids meets the White House Moonshot:  CAC2 Member Janet Demeter (Jack’s Angels) encourages medical research investment into cures for children with cancer at the 2022 Cancer Moonshot announcement event. CAC2 Member, the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) launched a new research initiative, the DNA Damage Response Consortium, in partnership with Yale Cancer Center. The consortium will bring together a diverse team of renowned adult and pediatric researchers to rapidly advance a new class of promising potential treatments that can target a brain tumor’s DNA damage response network. More than 60% of patients with […]

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Assorted news from last week: Study finds no link between Body Mass Index and thyroid cancer in teens with nodules. When acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapses, it is more difficult to treat and outcomes are dismal. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered a mutation in pediatric AML that physicians can use to identify high-risk patients and better guide treatment. An elevated level of urinary 3-methoxytyramine (3MT) is tied to poor prognosis in pediatric neuroblastoma, according to research published in JCO Precision Oncology. Researchers also found that elevated 3MT was associated with 8 differentially expressed genes, providing a gene […]

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Assorted news from last week: Dr. Brigitte Widemann appointed as the Special Advisor to NCI Director Ned Sharpless for childhood cancer. When Jace Ward joined a clinical trial for a novel therapy for DIPG, he had been fighting a deadly brainstem tumor for more than a year. He told his Doctor at Stanford, Michelle Monje, “I know that I’m going to die, and I know this therapy will one day be the thing that cures other kids. Figure it out with me… I don’t want it to be a 5-year-old who has to go first.”  This is his story and the […]

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Assorted news from last week: The White House announced the reigniting of the Cancer Moonshot on February 2.  Two prominent items related to the childhood cancer community: To speed progress against the most deadly and rare cancers, including childhood cancers — Today, we know cancer as a disease for which we lack good strategies for developing treatments against many of the more than 200 distinct types. We can invest in a robust pipeline for new treatments, and the COVID-19 pandemic response has demonstrated we can accelerate clinical trials without compromising safety and effectiveness. To support patients, caregivers, and survivors — Today, we [...] Read more

Assorted news from last week: Retinoblastoma treatment outcomes have improved globally over the past four decades but large disparities persist between higher-income and lower-income countries, with some areas having major survival gaps. Targeted health-care policy making with increased health-care financing and accessibility are needed in low-income and lower-middle-income countries to improve retinoblastoma outcomes worldwide. Scientists at the Princess Máxima Center compared the effectiveness of RNA sequencing with traditional methods that allow you to specifically search the DNA and RNA for known gene changes. Using RNA sequencing, the team picked out 40% more than they found using traditional techniques. Wiley online [...] Read more

Assorted news from the last two weeks: Adolescents and young adult cancer survivors are more likely to have psychological distress and additional annual medical expenses than adults with no history of cancer, according to a study published in Cancer. The FDA has granted both Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and Orphan Drug Designation Lantern Pharma’s drug candidate LP-184 for the treatment of pediatric patients with ATRT. Two anti-cancer antibodies have a much stronger effect against pediatric nerve-cell and bone cancers in mice than either one alone, researchers have discovered. The Spanish perspective:  The future of pediatric oncology lies in precision medicine. […]

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