Generous supporters of the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation help drive scientific advancements, leading to groundbreaking outcomes in pediatric cancer research. An independent panel of scientists, together with our own subject-matter experts, reviews and scores each application looking specifically for path-breaking projects. Awards are determined and granted in the first quarter of the new year.
While the grant process is simple, the research process is far more complex. For science to demonstrate learnings it can take a few months to a few years. For those insights to become treatments approved by the FDA, it can take as long as 20 years.
While we would never want to change the rigor of the research process, more funds translate into more innovative ideas being tested simultaneously. Our goal is always to accelerate treatments out of the lab and into improved patient care. Your generous contributions will metamorphose into powerful cures and real futures for children.
Because of research, the cancer death rate has decreased more dramatically for children than any other age group. Below are innovations that have been advanced with PCRF funding:
We were pivotal in curing advanced mature B-NHL in children and adolescents and in reducing their toxic exposure and length of therapy. The result: they can lead healthier lives in the future and spend less time in the hospital while receiving therapy.
PCRF funded development of a new treatment approach pairing genetic engineering with immunotherapies and launched the first in-human protocol using T cells to target Leukemia.
This groundbreaking work proved that when CAR-T cells are infused back into the same patient, they can mount full-blown immune attacks on tumor cells. It also contributed to state-of-the-art therapies weaponizing the body’s immune system that are at the forefront of immuno-oncology today.
Our funding demonstrated the potential for immunotherapy to treat osteosarcoma, ofering one of the only new treatments in almost 20 years. The breakthrough led to new treatments for adolescent and young adult patients who previously had no options.
PCRF funded diagnostic tests that predict which patients are likely to respond positively to the intensive treatment to JMML. This risk stratification allows for treatment decisions to be optimized, giving patients a higher likelihood of success in a disease with 50% survival rate.
Since 2008, PCRF funding has advanced treatments for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and builds on the insight that a protein called CREB is overproduced in AML patients. Research has focused on developing newer and better drugs to block CREB – causing AML cells to die. One drug is now in Phase 1 Trials.
Over the past four decades, we have been at the vanguard of identifying and stewarding promising research. While we are a bit wistful that there is so much more to learn to beat the diseases that continue to rob children of their childhood, we are super charged to do more and with greater urgency. That starts with generating the funding pediatric cancer research needs to accelerate new treatment breakthroughs, to support the next generation of researchers and to uncover promising new directions. We like contributing to history – and with your help we will continue to rewrite it.
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800.354.7273 | info@pcrf-kids.org
