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Celebrating Pediatric Cancer Social Workers on World Social Work Day: Embracing ‘Buen Vivir’ for Transformative Change

March 19, 2024
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Author: Bethany Lieberman: March 19, 2024, marks World Social Work Day. Today, we sincerely thank all social workers, especially pediatric cancer social workers, who profoundly impact cancer care by assessing young patient’s needs, advocating for resources, and responding to crises promptly. This year’s theme, ‘Buen Vivir: Shared Future for Transformative Change,’ beautifully encapsulates the essence of these professionals’ daily work. We celebrate their commitment, innovative approaches, and holistic perspective, which transform the landscape of pediatric cancer care. Commitment to a Shared Future: Pediatric cancer social workers are the linchpin in creating a shared future for transformative change. Their commitment resonates […]

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A Tribute to Pediatric Cancer Caregivers: Honoring Heroes

February 16, 2024
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At the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer (CAC2), we extend our deepest gratitude to our community’s current and former caregivers. They embody compassion, resilience, and unwavering support for children, adolescents, young adults, and their families confronting a cancer diagnosis or the many complications that arise in survivorship. Caring for a child with cancer is a profound journey marked by a mix of emotions, challenges, and unyielding love. In the shadows of this harrowing ordeal stand the caregivers, often unsung heroes, beside young patients. On this National Caregivers Day, we acknowledge their pivotal roles and the extraordinary commitment they bring to the […]

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Guest Blog–The Fit for Filing Group at ACCELERATE

November 14, 2022
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Blogged with permission and thanks by the ACCELERATE Fit for Filing Working Group   The ACCELERATE PLATFORM’S Fit for Filing (FFF) group was formed in 2019 to explore the issues of academic-led trials that typically do not produce data that is fit-for-filing to gain marketing approval by regulatory agencies.   The scope of Fit for Filing (FFF) is to develop best principles on how to design and deliver an academic or academic & industry collaborative trial with a dataset that can be included in a package for regulatory filing.Objectives of the FFF working group are: Define the barriers and propose solutions to ensure […]

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Guest Blog–National Cancer Institute Launches the CCDI Molecular Targets Platform

August 10, 2022
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The Molecular Targets Platform is an NCI-supported instance of the  Open Targets Platform with a focus on preclinical pediatric oncology data. It is a tool that supports the identification and prioritization of molecular targets expressed in childhood cancers.   The Molecular Targets Platform builds upon the data and functionality of the Open Targets Platform while also including: The FDA Pediatric Molecular Target Lists (FDA PMTL) Analyses of pediatric oncology datasets from the Open Pediatric Cancer (OpenPedCan) project at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) Open Pediatric Brain Tumor Atlas (OpenPBTA) Gabriella Miller Kids […]

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

June 29, 2022
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The National Cancer Institute’s new Molecular Characterization Initiative (MCI) fosters data sharing in childhood cancer research. The program is expanding comprehensive molecular characterization of tumors to children, adolescents, and young adults (AYAs) with newly diagnosed soft tissue sarcomas 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.  This effort is in addition to the previous cohort that targeted the molecular characterization of newly diagnosed central nervous system tumors in children and AYA patients.   Participants’ tumor and blood samples are analyzed in an accredited lab, with […]

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

March 23, 2022
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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 Collaborative Achievement–Foundations Moving Towards A Venture Philanthropy Model

August 13, 2021
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This collaborative research effort was due in part to childhood cancer groups coming together as part of CAC2. CAC2 salutes CAC2 Member Organizations The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation, The Children’s Cancer Research Fund, along with other community partners who have joined forces with CAC2 Supporting Organization Oncoheroes Biosciences in a unique effort against childhood cancer.  These foundations choose to invest in drug development to get promising drugs across the developmental “valley of death.” The drug development process consists of a long and arduous series of steps to bring a new pharmaceutical drug to the market. The valley of death is […]

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Guest Blog–Let’s Fight This with Food

January 4, 2021
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By Guest Blogger Hilary Woo, Dietetic Intern, Texas Woman’s University Fighting with food has been a motto that I’ve had ever since deciding to pursue a career as a registered dietitian. In fact, the moment I decided to be a dietitian was during a volunteer program in high school at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. I’ve always known that I wanted to work in pediatrics in some field whether it be as a nurse, doctor, dietitian, teacher, etc. However, MD Anderson helped me to find my passion in nutrition, and for that reason as well as personally being impacted by cancer through family members, I’ve […]

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Five Categories of Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Survivorship

July 1, 2020
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The CAC2 Survivorship Working Group assembled this document to help categorize survivorship issues for the community.  It is by no means an exhaustive list, but it gives examples of some of the challenges that survivors face in each of the categories that our group has identified.   EDUCATIONAL: Academic Success – how to achieve it, partner with the schools, how a family can encourage it from home Core Competencies – Prepare and Share with School Counselors, Educators, School Nurses, Doctors, Child and Adolescent Therapists, etc. Developing plans to help students Individualized Education Program (IEP) vs. 504 Plan Emphasize plans need to […]

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Why Gene Therapy is No Longer a Pipe Dream

July 9, 2018
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CAC2 Research Explained CAC2 members and guests who are also professionals in the field of childhood cancer research find and curate important work and provide pointers and explanations for our general membership. CAC2 Member Laurie Orloski, PharmD, found and curated the article in the link below: https://psmag.com/social-justice/gene-therapy-no-longer-pipe-dream It is well appreciated that cancer is a disease of the human genome, arising from alterations in DNA. In 2017, the US FDA granted its very first regulatory approval of a gene therapy, specifically for the treatment of pediatric and young adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia: anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy [...] Read more
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