Research!
Why research?
Rawr for Kian continues to fund research institutions investigating ways to improve pediatric cancer treatment and cure rates.
Pediatric cancer research receives approximately 4% of the billions of dollars the federal government spends on cancer research. This is the funding for all pediatric cancer (there are 12 primary types and over 100 subtypes) and leaves a gap between what is available and what is needed to advance pediatric treatment. For perspective, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) budget for 2020, breast cancer research received 8.5% of the budget, more than double the amount of pediatric cancer research.
Underfunded research is why there is a significant need for privately secured funding to advance pediatric cancer research and why your support matters so much.
Tell me more about the currently funded research.
Currently we are funding a research initiative at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute which focuses on finding a new highly sensitive, affordable, rapid blood test to provide diagnostic and actionable insights towards treating pediatric cancer. The research team leverages circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and tumor DNA mapping to accomplish the goals above.
What is ctDNA? They are tumor cells that end up in the bloodstream. Using ctDNA can open doors for better treatment and outcomes. Benefits of this research can include liquid biopsy for disease detection, more targeted treatment, and better monitoring options.
Liquid biopsy uses a blood draw to try to determine the cancer type and stage. This is less invasive than traditional biopsies which often require surgery. Additionally, medical teams can provide more tailored treatment options.
Using blood draws to find tumors reduces reliance on traditional monitoring tools such as CT scans and sonograms. It also means we can monitor patients between scans to see how they respond to treatment.
What has the research team accomplished?
In a recent paper in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the research team reported that liquid biopsy provided valuable diagnostic information for children with aggressive kidney tumors like Wilms. This underscores the importance of this research, and its application offers the best treatment for children with these types of tumors.
From Dr. Mullen:
“To provide children with Wilms tumor the best treatment possible, there is an urgent need to identify high-risk genomic features as soon as possible after diagnosis,” says Mullen. “Demonstrating that these changes can be found in diagnostic blood samples of children with the disease is a crucial step forward in achieving this goal. We plan to expand our work into early identification of other prognostic genomic features for all children with pediatric renal tumors to aid in appropriate diagnosis and further study the potential to use ctDNA to follow response to therapy and identify relapse.”
Your donations make these critical investigations possible.
That was a lot of information! If you have questions or want to learn more please contact us.