We’re committed to showcasing the exceptional work your donation enables — from sponsoring talented physicians and researchers, to supporting pediatric inpatient units and purchasing state-of-the-art equipment. Below is an overview of some of the projects and progress our donors make possible.
Apply for a grant from Pediatric Cancer Foundation for 2020.
(This application is due by Jan 15, 2020 to be considered for our fiscal year 2020-2021.)
The Pediatric Tumor Biology Lab has made groundbreaking progress understanding the biology of pediatric solid tumors and unlocking anti-angiogenic therapies. PCF has been a lab supporter since 1999 and has donated millions of dollars, currently representing a third of the lab’s annual budget. With PCF’s support, the lab continues to perform significant preclinical work in the field of tumor angiogenesis and metastases. We have recently formed partnerships with Radiation Oncology and Immunology to use our mouse models of pediatric cancer to study how radiation affects the tumor vessels and how the immune system contributes to fighting cancer.
With PCF’s support, the lab performed significant preclinical work that eventually led to FDA approval for two of the first anti-angiogenic drugs. The lab enjoys a steady stream of young minds who spend time in the facility and share a commitment to curing cancer. Support from PCF has also helped the lab to educate more than 50 surgery residents, oncology residents, and medical students.
PCF supports the work of Dr. Jessica Kandel, who specializes in treatment methods for recalcitrant tumors. Dr. Kandel’s early work at Columbia contributed to Genetech’s decision to sponsor clinical trials of the drug Avastin. Dr. Kandel was part of the clinical trial team for Avastin in children, and represented the first complete translation from bench-to-bedside. Avastin has gone on to become a widely used treatment for advanced cancers in both children and adults.
PCF is proud to have supported Dr. Kandel’s move to University of Chicago, allowing her team to tap into a whole different set of experts at a leading research institution. Her lab continues to focus on the role of abnormal blood vessel growth in childhood tumors. Dr. Kandel’s team recently found that a toxin made by a common bacteria produces changes in the blood vessels that affect metastasis. The group is particularly proud of the advances in patient care that this line of exciting research has made possible.
Sue Cohn M.D., and Luca Vricella M.D. and Jessica Kandel M.D. – leaders of our new Children’s Surgery, Oncology, and Cardiovascular Service Lines for children. This new collaborative structure reflects a groundbreaking partnership between the University of Chicago and the largest healthcare entity in Illinois, Advocate Aurora, which allows our programs to reach children not only throughout our state but beyond our borders. On this day, we were discussing a novel approach to a very complex case, a child with a tumor involving the lung and heart, which we are collaborating to treat in the most cutting-edge way possible. We would not be able to do this work without the partnership of the Pediatric Cancer Foundation!
The Pediatric Cancer Foundation Developmental Therapeutics Program (PCFDTP) is a keystone of innovative care and clinical research within the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). Our longstanding partnership with the PCF has given us the tremendous opportunity to establish a robust translational research program that includes clinical comprehensive tumor sequencing, basic science research to define novel therapeutic targets, and clinical trials to bring cutting edge treatments directly to patients. Our program is one of only 21 COG Phase I (first-in-child) programs designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to offer early drug development trials to children with incurable cancer, and is the only such program in the New York, Northern New Jersey and Connecticut tri-state region, servicing a population in excess of 20 million. We are deeply indebted to the PCF for the last 10 years of generous support that has allowed the program’s continued growth.
PCF has supported the careers of promising young physician scientists at this institution since 2010. Specifically, PCF support helps fund the three-year Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program, where fellows are trained as scientist-clinicians dedicated to comprehensive, compassionate, and research-driven care. Fellows have accomplished amazing things, from clinical trials to seminal discoveries. PCF has also contributed funds to the installation of special privacy screens in infusion treatment rooms, which bolster patients’ quality of care.
Since 1997, PCF has provided more than $1.4 million to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Department of Pediatrics. This generous funding has supported MSK’s dedicated physician-scientists, working tirelessly to develop immune-based therapy for pediatric solid tumor malignancies. Currently, funding from PCF is allowing MSK’s neuroblastoma team to conduct studies of next-generation antibody therapy—a therapeutic technology that holds incredible promise as a more effective treatment than chemotherapy or radiation with fewer long-term side effects. PCF’s consistent support for clinical trials is critical to reaching MSK’s shared goal of making safe, life-saving treatments available to all children facing a cancer diagnosis.
Dr. Lionel Blanc
Dr. Jeff Lipton
Pediatric Cancer Foundation funds research by Jeffrey M Lipton, M.D., Ph.D and Lionel Blanc, Ph.D, who study gene mutations that give rise to malignancy in children. Drs. Lipton and Blanc note: “Without funding from PCF, we would not be able to expand our work, which aims to understand the pathogenesis of the most common pediatric bone cancer, osteogenic sarcoma. These funds have not only aided our work at the Feinstein Institute of Medical Research, but also fostered new long-term collaborations with outside institutions.”
PCF has been providing support to The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and Cohen Children’s Medical Center for over 15 consecutive years. The team has garnered major grants from the NIH, DOD and the CDC, all based upon work initially supported by PCF.
Research funded by PCF at The Feinstein Institute has been directed towards studying and understanding Diamond Blackfan anemia.
“Deaths from childhood cancer continue to decrease as researchers at all of the institutions supported by PCF make major strides in our efforts to prevent or cure all of childhood cancer. I look forward to continued support from PCF until we can all declare the battle won!”
– Jeffrey Lipton M.D., Ph.D, Director, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Feinstein Institute of Medical Research, Northwell Health Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Medicine, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
Mitchell S. Cairo, MD
PCF funding has helped in the development of innovative treatments to battle hematologic malignancies in children and adolescents through targeted immunotherapies, novel chemotherapy for induction therapy, stem cell transplantation, and other methods. PCF funding has also made possible a pediatric infusion center, as well as a Nurse Practitioner Coordinator to support, coordinate, and assist in clinical research.
As Chief of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, Dr. Mitchell Cairo leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers that focus on specific areas of research to develop and investigate novel strategies of treating leukemia and lymphoma, including using targeted immune therapies to activate the body’s defense system. By using antibodies that directly target lymphoma cells, we are able to reduce the amount of toxic chemotherapy that we use and are able to achieve excellent outcomes. We have been able to do this in Non-Hodgkin lymphoma where we have reduced the amount of chemotherapy which can damage the heart by 60% and have been able to show over 95% survival. The success of this has allowed us to start planning the next clinical trial where we can reduce toxic chemotherapy even more. In Hodgkin lymphoma, we have been able to use targeted antibodies to deliver drug directly to the tumor cell. This has allowed us to eliminate many of the more toxic chemotherapy drugs, but more importantly a complete elimination of radiation in the majority of patients. We have a 100% success rate using this strategy and are now looking for ways where we can reduce long term side effects even more while still maintaining excellent outcomes. The promise of unlocking treatments by harnessing the power of the patient’s own immune system renews the efforts of Dr. Cairo’s team to lead advances that save lives while minimizing unwanted side effects both now and in the future.
Overall the program is equipped to design and deliver customized and personalized therapy for each child and adolescent in the cancer center diagnosed with a hematological malignancy.
