September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is joining the campaign to #GoGold to raise awareness about childhood cancers and highlight our commitment to funding childhood cancer research.
The Impact of Childhood Cancer
Cancer remains the number one cause of death by disease for children in America. Every three minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer worldwide and approximately 40,000 children are receiving cancer treatment at any given time.
Childhood cancer survivors often experience many side effects including secondary cancers, heart damage, infertility, chronic hepatitis, and more.
CIRM’s Commitment to Funding Childhood Cancer Research
CIRM continues to fund research that will advance research on therapies for childhood cancer— including stem cell and gene therapy research.
“CIRM remains committed to finding improved regenerative medicine-based therapies for children with cancer,” says Maria T. Millan, M.D., President and CEO of CIRM. “Funding research and treatments for these types of cancers means children may experience shorter stays in the hospital, improved health outcomes, and a greater quality of life with their families.”
CIRM-funded Clinical Trials Addressing Childhood Cancer
CIRM has awarded $11.9 million to the founding director of the Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy, Crystal Mackall, M.D.
Mackall is running a clinical trial testing a treatment for glioma, a devastating brain tumor that occurs primarily in children and young adults. Glioma tumors are almost always fatal. Until now, radiation therapy has been the main treatment option, but it only extends survival by a few months.
Mackall and her team are taking a revolutionary approach to treating blood cancers and adapting it to develop a next generation approach to be effective against untreatable brain cancers. They are modifying a patient’s own T cells (immune system cells) with a protein called chimeric antigen receptor cell (CAR). These newly created CAR T cells will be reintroduced back into patients where it is hoped they will identify and destroy the brain tumor cells.
CIRM has also invested $8.4 million to support a Phase 1 clinical trial at City of Hope targeting malignant brain tumors in children. Brain tumors are the most common solid tumor of childhood, with roughly 5,000 new diagnoses per year in the United States.
The City of Hope team—led by Leo David Wang, M.D., Ph.D.—will treat pediatric patients with aggressive brain tumors also using CAR T cell therapy.
“CAR T cell therapy is usually given intravenously, and then the cells travel through the bloodstream to find the tumor. But the blood-brain barrier separates the blood circulation from the central nervous system — which makes it hard for CAR T cells to access the brain,” Wang explained. “In this trial, we introduce the CAR T cells directly into the ventricles of the brain, which works much more effectively for brain tumors.”
The CIRM-funded research at Stanford and City of Hope has the potential to transform the landscape for lethal pediatric brain tumors.
- SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
- PlatoData.Network Vertical Generative Ai. Empower Yourself. Access Here.
- PlatoAiStream. Web3 Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
- PlatoESG. Carbon, CleanTech, Energy, Environment, Solar, Waste Management. Access Here.
- PlatoHealth. Biotech and Clinical Trials Intelligence. Access Here.
- Source: https://blog.cirm.ca.gov/2023/09/13/cirm-joins-gogold-childhood-cancer-awareness-campaign/
