CAC2 Childhood Cancer Community News Digest (March 28-April 10)

Assorted News from Last Week: The Coalition Against Childhood Cancer is pleased to announce the 2022 Annual Summit hosted by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia 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 work of our members who are working for a future without childhood cancers. The Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity (RACE) Act led to an increase in required pediatric studies for recently approved cancer therapies within the first year of the act’s implementation, […]

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CAC2 Childhood Cancer Community News Digest (March 21-27)

Assorted News from Last Week: Cancer survivors have increasingly advocated for research into the long-term effects of their treatment.  Read more about that perspective from post doctoral research scientist and long-term childhood leukemia survivor, Victoria J. Forster. Treatment for glioma has long relied on MRI imaging to track tumor markers and treatment response. But new findings suggest a new method could provide additional data about tumor markers before changes appear on an MRI, indicating possible strategies to help clinicians address this aggressive form of cancer. Scientists have identified variants in two genes that are associated with accelerated aging in childhood […]

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Guest Blog–National Cancer Institute Launches Molecular Characterization Initiative for Childhood Cancer Research

The National Cancer Institute’s new Molecular Characterization Initiative (MCI) fosters data sharing in childhood cancer research. The program currently offers comprehensive molecular characterization of tumors to children, adolescents, and young adults (AYAs) with newly diagnosed central nervous system tumors receiving care at hospitals affiliated with the Children’s Oncology Group. The DNA and RNA in participants’ tumors are analyzed through this voluntary, free program.    Participants’ tumor and blood samples are analyzed in an accredited lab, with results shared with families and doctors within 21 days. This detailed information about the cancer can be used to make a more precise diagnosis, […]

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CAC2 Childhood Cancer Community News Digest (March 7-13)

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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Community News–Federal Appropriations 2022 Passes

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. There were several other specifics in the budget important for our community:   NIH/HHS Funding The STAR Act received $30M and CCDI received $50M for FY22 – full funding for both programs! NIH received $45B for FY22, an increase of $2.25B over FY21. NCI received $6.9B for FY22, an increase of $353M over FY21. This also includes $194M for the Cancer Moonshot. The omnibus provided $1B […]

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CAC2 Childhood Cancer Community News Digest (February 28-March 6)

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

CAC2 Childhood Cancer Community News Digest (February 21-27)

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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Guest Blog–If No One Knows, No One Cares: An Urgent Message for President Biden

By CAC2 Member Janet Demeter, Jack’s Angels “This is the wake up call of #Moonshot4Kids: medical research investment into cures for children is one area where our priorities as Americans are completely upside-down.”–Janet Demeter This is the story of Moonshot4Kids meets the White House Moonshot! I visited the White House on Feb. 2, 2022 to witness President Biden’s announcement to reignite the Cancer Moonshot.  I never expected an invitation to this event.  At the end of last year, I had been involved in a White House OSTP roundtable of stakeholders in the childhood cancer community at the end of last […]

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