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The Child who Changed the G
ame
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Garrett, Clay, Killian, Pierce, Finn and Grainne Owen.
Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods are all names of players who changed the game they played. The world of pediatric cancer has a game-changing name as well, Killian Owen.
He is the one child who changed the direction of pediatric cancer research by using targeted therapy. By breaking down targeted therapies it will help you to understand the magnitude of what Killian did.
The National Cancer Institute states that targeted cancer therapies are drugs or other substances that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules ("molecular targets") that are involved in the growth, progression, and spread of cancer.
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Killian Owen
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Killian became the first child in the world to be treated with BL22, which according to the NCI is a recombinant immunotoxin and would deliver its toxin directly to tumor cells. Even though BL22 did not cure Killian, it has allowed doctors to study his preserved cells and learn how to create more effective drugs for other children. This is more impressive than scoring 40 points a game, a walk-off home run or a hole-in-one. This was life saving for many children battling pediatric cancers.
Today more than $9 million has been raised to ensure that families have the best opportunity to treat their child. It allows them the chance to have cutting edge therapies and to eventually have cures. Targeted therapies have led to the creation of CAR-T Cell therapy, which Curing Kids Cancer helps fund at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. This treatment has a 94 percent success rate and uses the child's own cells to fight their cancer. Without Killian this would not have been possible.
July 27, 2016 marked the 13th anniversary of Killian Owen's passing. He was and still is the inspiration for Curing Kids Cancer.
Killian is a hero.
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Learn about the research on brain tumor tissue that Curing Kids Cancer helps fund at Ann & Robert H. Lurie's Children's Hospital of Chicago.
The six month update just arrived from Jason Fangusaro, MD from the Brain Tumor Center at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, which is becoming a leading national resource for pediatric brain tumor care. This program focuses on providing patients with crucial care and research on brain tumor tissue. The Brain Tumor Center is currently seeing more than 140 patients each year. The research performed by Dr. Fangusaro and the team at the Brain Tumor Center is working diligently to learn more about how children's brain tumors can be treated.
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| Jason Fangusaro, MD, with a patient at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital. |
"Dr. Fangusaro is collaborating with colleagues from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine to develop a novel vaccine for patients with high-grade glioma and ependymoma tumors. The vaccine will be produced individually for each patient using his/her own resected tumor tissue. The tumor sample will be reduced to the protein level to create the vaccine with the goal that it will activate the body's immune system to fight against tumor growth or recurrence. The company that will produce the vaccine has completed their review of the full protocol developed by Dr. Fangusaro and their feedback is being incorporated in preparation for resubmitting the protocol to the Northwestern Scientific Review Committee (SRC) for final approval. Concurrently, Dr. Fangusaro is in the process of contracting with a lab to support vaccine preparation. The research team received a favorable response to the vaccine trial submission from the Northwestern Scientific Review Committee (SRC) at the end of December. The vaccine study is moving closer to open enrollment of patients in 2016."
Jason Fangusaro, MD, was featured in last month's Curing Kids Cancer Doctor Spotlight after receiving an award at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie's Investiture Ceremony. We look forward to hearing more about the great work from Dr. Fangusaro and the Brain Tumor Center, and are honored to fund it.
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A teen battling cancer uses a positive attitude to combat his disease.
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Dalton Levine at Mecum Denver with chief auctioneer Mark Delzell.
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A lump. We commonly hear this phrase whe
n discussing cancer. The same is to be said for now 18 year-old Dalton Levine, who was doing his homework when he felt a lump on his stomach. This would have stopped many kids from their typical lives but not Dalton. Resilient and positive, he is truly a fighter battling Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma.
Dalton's parents Gary and Karen made a doctor's appointment. It was discovered that Dalton had Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma, which is a type of cancer that grows on the adrenal cortex. Dalton's type of cancer is rare enough but even more so because ACC is seen in young children, not adolescents like Dalton. His positive attitude is a crucial piece of his treatment and a trait that his doctors' accredit to his ability to stay strong.
"I think it is important for people to know that when you face any difficult situation in life, whether it be spilling coffee all over yourself before a big meeting at work, or battling cancer, it is important to stay positive and push through it. If you have the will to push on and get out of the darkness in life, then you can accomplish anything," said Dalton Levine.
Dalton is a hero; his attitude is one of the reasons why Dalton is still able to do all he does. This outlook on life has helped him battle his cancer while
continuing to competitively dance. When he is not competitively dancing, Dalton is playing the violin or enjoying the company of his friends and family.
"My treatment has been very hard and vigorous. I have had 3 major surgeries, over 20 rounds of chemo, radiation on my lungs, and a Flight for Life where I almost lost my life. While it has been extremely hard, my friends, family, and medical family have made it a
s easy as possible. I have the most amazing care team and without them I would not be standing here today," said Dalton.
His treatment team continues to encourage him and he will follow in their footsteps this fall. Dalton will attend Colorado University of Boulder to major in computer science while he works on his prerequisites for medical school.
"I would love to be a pediatric doctor someday! Helping sick kids is amazing, and after all I've gone through it has really shown me what a difference I could make in peoples lives," said Dalton.
We loved getting to know Dalton at the Mecum Auction in Denver this year. We look forward to hearing more about Dalton's journey!
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Mecum Goes Gold
Curing Kids Cancer's partnership with Mecum continues to flourish after 3 years.
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CEO of Petty Garage Russ Stellfox and his wife at the booth at Mecum Harrisburg.
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The Mecum Auctions for the month of July were plentiful with auctions in Denver and Harrisburg, P.A raising nearly $40,000 for pediatric cancer research.
The Denver auction raised over $13,000 for Curing Kids Cancer and
contained an educational component. Curing Kids Cancer account manager Mikaela Hopkins visited Children's Hospital Colorado where Curing Kids Cancer funds Dr. Maloney's research on relapsed leukemia. Dalton Levine, a cancer patient at Children's Hospital Colorado, attended the auction with his family.
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President of Mecum Auctions Dana Mecum
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Next on the calendar was Mecum Harrisburg, which was an exceptional auction with more than $27,000 in donations. Thanks to the generosity of Mecum customers, $13,500 was raised from the "I'm Sold on Curing Kids Cancer" signs, which are provided as a gift from Dana Mecum.
A special
donation of vintage Coke Bottles crossed the block and helped raise $2,700 on Saturday. If you are interested in contributing memorabilia or a car, contact Mikaela Hopkins ([email protected]).
All of our donors, both big and small, are a crucial part of the organization and we want to thank them for their continued support of helping us fund pediatric cancer research.
Curing Kids Cancer will attend the Mecum Monterey auction in California next month.
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First and Gold Campaign
SEC and ACC teams are ready to punt childhood cancer to the end zone.
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M
ississippi State Head Football Coach Dan Mullen at Curing Kids Cancer Game in 2015.
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The typical college football stadium holds 50,000 roaring fans creating the perfect play to tell fans that September is childhood cancer awareness month.
This campaign was started four years ago by Curing Kids Cancer with the University of South Carolina, University of Georgia and Vanderbilt University. Now the campaign has grown to include 7 SEC teams and ACC teams. Last year's campaign had Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt participate.
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Helmet sticker worn by Tennessee Vols player.
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Previously called "Blow the Whistle on Kids Cancer," this campaign focuses on bringing awareness to pediatric cancer awareness month. A very large portion of society has no idea that September is pediatric cancer awareness month but much of the population does know college football.
The campaign includes having teams wear a helmet sticker and a wristband, while the coaches wear the wristband and a Curing Kids Cancer lanyard with a gold whistle. The game is also mentioned in pregame press conferences and a PSA is played during the game.
This year we look forward to adding ACC schools in to the mix and are excited to still have participation from top-ranked SEC teams.
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Mecum, Monterey
August 18-20
We are excited to see how much we can raise for pediatric cancer research at the Mecum auction in Monterey. If you are interested in learning more about this auction, click here
https://www.mecum.com/
If you are interested in donating a car or other auction item, please contact a
ccount manager at Curing Kids Cancer, Mikaela Hopkins at [email protected]
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See what's happening on our social sites:
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