Bailey Tra

Bailey Tra was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) a month after her sixth birthday.  It is the deadliest of all brain cancers and Bailey had a rare mutation that made it harder to combat. She endured brain surgeries, several sedated radiation sessions, chemotherapy, and was treated with three different targeted therapy drugs that were emergency FDA approved for her use only. Through all of this, Bailey never complained or cried. She was scared but held her family’s hands and showed courage.

Though Bailey lost her fight, she made the most of her seven sweet years. The strength she displayed throughout her journey provided the adults in her life a master class in what it means to be brave, resilient and to persevere.

About 300 kids are diagnosed with DIPG in the US each year and there are no known cures for it.  Placing a priority on advancing innovation for this fatal tumor, PCRF, through the Will Irwin Memorial Fund, supports the novel research of neuro-oncologist Dr. Ashley Plant-Fox. She is the lead Principal Investigator of the first clinical trial for a heat shock protein vaccine targeting DIPG. Dr. Plant-Fox aims to collect as much data as possible on responders and non-responders to improve the vaccine and predict which molecular alterations in a patient’s tumor will make them more or less likely to respond to the vaccine.  

Unfortunately, this vaccine was unavailable to help Bailey – but clinical trials are the key to new treatment option for others.