All posts tagged: Research

CAC2 Webinar–Tissue Donation: The Critical but often Overlooked Piece of the Research Puzzle

Our February CAC2 All-Member webinar focused on the role that tumor tissue can play in childhood cancer research efforts.  Katie Gnatt from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and Ginny McLean from Swifty Foundation welcomed Dr. Patrick Reynolds, Director of The Childhood Cancer Repository, and Dr. Angela Waanders, Director of Precision Medicine Oncology and Executive Board Chair of the Children's Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium to present the webinar. Dr. Reynolds spoke about tissue donation/collection during treatment and Dr. Waanders spoke on post mortem tissue collection.  As we move towards a world with less toxic, more personalized forms of treatment, the availability of different types [...] Read more

CAC2 Webinar–Collaboration and Progress: How Target Pediatric AML Facilitated LLS PedAL, a Global Master Trial in Acute Leukemia

In our October All-Member Webinar, TpAML co-founder/advocate Julie Guillot and Dr. Gwen Nichols, Chief Medical Officer, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, highlighted the energy and work behind putting -- and keeping -- the patient at the center of drug development. Participants had the opportunity to learn valuable insights on the makings of Target Pediatric AML (that a number of CAC2 members worked together on) and how research findings have spurred the launch of a groundbreaking global master clinical trial initiative in high-risk childhood leukemia, LLS PedAL. Read more

CAC2 Webinar–Data Sharing in the Digital Age

Our April CAC2 All-member webinar was hosted by Amanda Haddock (Dragon Master Foundation) who welcomed and introduced fellow CAC2 member Dr. Warren Kibbe, Chief of Translational Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, and Chief Data Officer at Duke Cancer Institute.  Dr. Kibbe helped us all understand why we should all care about data sharing, a topic that roared into national prominence in the State of the Union speech in February 2019.  You can view the presentation by clicking the link below The role of publications, release of data, and well-documented scientific plans changed radically as we entered the digital [...] Read more

CAC2 Webinar–MyPART: My Pediatric and Adult Rare Tumors Network for Patient Engagement in Rare Solid Tumors Research

December's All-Member Webinar was presented by Dr. Karlyne Reilly, Director of the Center for Cancer Research Rare Tumor Initiative at the National Cancer Institute. Rare tumors pose unique challenges for patients, their families, and the researchers working to develop new therapies. In this webinar Dr. Reilly reviewed these specific challenges and how increased patient engagement in rare tumor research can help to overcome them. MyPART is a patient engagement network being developed in the Center for Cancer Research at NCI focused on children, adolescents, and young adults with rare solid tumors. Dr. Reilly described the network being developed and the goals to [...] Read more

CAC2 Webinar–Functional and Social Independence in Adult Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumors

October's All-Member webinar was presented by Tara Brinkman, PhD, Assistant Member in the Departments of Epidemiology and Cancer Control and Psychology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Brinkman's recent, first-of-its- kind study sheds light on the degree of achievement of independence by survivors of pediatric brain tumors. Her talk highlighted the prevalence of independence and risk factors associated with non-independence in adult survivors. As part of the presentation, Dr. Brinkman reviewed the impact of independence on quality of life and emotional distress and discussed the implications for interventions. Read more

CAC2 Webinar–Understanding and Enhancing the Role of Children with Cancer and their Parents in Pediatric Oncology Drug Development

This month's webinar was presented by Stacy Crane, Predoctoral Fellow at Indiana University School of Nursing.  She described the experience of participating in a Phase I clinical trial from the perspective of the parents of children battling cancer. While overall, parents do not regret their child participating in a phase I clinical trial and would recommend participation to other parents of children with cancer, there are implications for clinicians and researchers who work with children with cancer and their families. One way to improve experiences in early phase clinical trial participation is to ensure that the side effects that impact the patients during these [...] Read more

Why Gene Therapy is No Longer a Pipe Dream

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

Oncohistones

CAC2 Research Explained CAC2 members who are also professionals in the field of cancer research find and curate important work and provide pointers and explanations for our general membership. Raquel Sitcheran, PhD found and curated the three articles cited below. One of the most remarkable findings in childhood cancer research in recent years has been the discovery that defects or mutations in genes that encode histones are directly linked to tumor growth. Histones are proteins that bind DNA and control how DNA wraps and coils itself to form more condensed chromosomes (see Figure). They not only provide structural support for [...] Read more

CAC2 Webinar–Germline Predisposition to Pediatric Cancer: It’s More Common Than You Think

In December's All-Member webinar, CAC2 members Ginger Diamond (Childhood Cancer Awareness Group of Coffee County) and Joanne Salcido (Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation) hosted Dr. Sharon Plon from the Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital and Dr. Todd Druley of Washington University in St. Louis, speaking on pediatric cancer predisposition and genetic susceptibility. During this webinar, Drs. Sharon Plon and Todd Druley covered evidence suggesting that pediatric cancer, unlike adult cancers, has a significant contribution from germline genetic changes that skew normal childhood development. They also highlighted the approaches underway in the laboratory and clinic to address this issue including [...] Read more

CAC2 Webinar–A Personalized Precision Approach to Therapy for Neuroblastoma

In this May's All-Member and Community Webinar, Gavin Lindberg (The EVAN Foundation) hosted physician investigators from the New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) clinical trials consortium who presented their work on defining genetic and biologic changes in a patient’s specific tumor that can be used to guide the development of novel more effective therapies, and the choice of therapy for an individual patient. They also discussed the implications of this approach to pediatric cancer in general. Dr. Shahab Asgharzadeh presented about New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Precision Medicine Trial, identifying biomarkers for targeted and immune based therapies. Dr. Asgharzadeh [...] Read more