$5 million endowment created for pediatric cancer

The Four Diamonds Fund is celebrating September's designation as Childhood Cancer Awareness month by announcing the creation of a $5 million endowment for a Pediatric Cancer Experimental Therapeutics Program at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The goal is to increase this endowment to $10 million during the next three to five years.        

The mission of the new program is to increase the cure rate and reduce side effects of cancer treatment for children. The program will promote and facilitate development of new therapies from the laboratory to the clinic for these children. This will include identifying new targets for drugs to treat childhood malignancies, the development of new drugs and other therapies directed to those targets, and clinical research studies to test new drugs and experimental approaches. 

The Experimental Therapeutics Program endowment will complement the research programs supported through the Four Diamonds Pediatric Cancer Research endowment, particularly its translational function in bringing laboratory-based research to clinical research studies. The director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program will be appointed by Barbara Miller, chief of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, and will work with Miller to coordinate efforts within the various pediatric cancer research endowments. It is anticipated that investigators in the Experimental Therapeutics Program will work with investigators in Experimental Therapeutics and Drug Discovery at the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute to optimize the development of new therapies for pediatric cancer patients. 

Miller said, "We are very excited about this program. Over the next five to 10 years, work supported by this endowment will allow researchers to develop and provide innovative new therapies to improve the outcomes and cures of pediatric cancer patients treated at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital, as well as throughout the country."

The likelihood of reaching adulthood after being diagnosed with cancer during childhood is now estimated to be approximately one in 300. There have been great advances made in the cure rate for pediatric cancer, but there are still major challenges in curing a number of childhood cancers, particularly brain tumors, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), advanced stage neuroblastoma and solid tumors with metastatic diseases. In addition, some therapies which contribute to success result in serious side effects, leaving normal organs with significant long-term damage.  A major focus of research is to better understand the biology of childhood tumors, which will allow the design of drugs that are more effective in killing tumors while minimizing damage to normal tissues. 

The mission of The Four Diamonds Fund is to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital and their families through superior care, comprehensive support and innovative research. For additional information about The Four Diamonds Fund, call (717) 531-6086 or visit www.fourdiamonds.org.