Long-term survivors of childhood cancer at higher risk of death following heart issues; threshold for treating risk factors should be lower

New research out of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and VCU Health Pauley Heart Center indicates that survivors of childhood cancer are at a significantly higher risk of death following a major cardiovascular event — including heart failure, heart attack or stroke — than the general public.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Has Special Meaning for Johns Hopkins Children’s Center Pediatric Oncology Nurse

For the past three years, nurse Lauren Chelenza has cared for hundreds of children with cancer while working on the pediatric oncology inpatient unit at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. It’s a place she never imagined she’d be working 15 years ago, while going through her own cancer treatment.

Study finds risk of leukemia higher than expected in children with Down syndrome

The risk of childhood leukemia among kids with Down syndrome is higher than predicted, according to a new study led by UC Davis and UC San Francisco researchers. Early diagnosis remains critical.

Researchers identify gene implicated in neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer

A new study by Mayo Clinic researchers has identified that a chromosome instability gene, USP24, is frequently missing in pediatric patients with neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer. The finding provides important insight into the development of this disease. The study is published in Cancer Research, the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

New Guidelines for Maximizing Cures and Minimizing Side Effects in Children with Hodgkin Lymphoma

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network announces publication of new NCCN Guidelines for Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma, one of the most curable forms of pediatric cancer. They synthesize the latest evidence and expert-consensus to make sure every child receives appropriate, but not excessive, treatment.

New NCCN Resource for Understanding Childhood Leukemia

NCCN publishes a new patient and caregiver resource focused on a childhood cancer type. Free NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) shares the latest expert advice for treating infants, children, and adolescents with the most common pediatric malignancy.

$500,000 gift supports worldwide effort to harness pediatric cancer data to advance treatment for children

Family looks to the ‘bright side’ by creating a charity to support pediatric cancer research and providing UChicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital with $500,000 gift.

Hearing loss linked to neurocognitive deficits in childhood cancer survivors

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are studying how hearing loss can affect the neurocognitive abilities of childhood cancer survivors. Findings show that survivors with severe hearing loss are at a significant increased risk for neurocognitive deficits, independent of what type of therapy they receive.

Stacey Crane of Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth receives grant to improve symptom reporting for kids with cancer

Stacey Crane, PhD, RN, will use a new grant from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to pilot test a web-based interface designed to make it easier for kids with cancer and their parents to report symptoms in real time with the ultimate goal of improving kids’ outcomes. Crane is an assistant professor in the Department of Research at Cizik School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

Scientists identify promising immunotherapy combination for pediatric brain cancer

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys have discovered that combining immunotherapy with a drug called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) eradicated a deadly type of pediatric brain tumor in mice. The discovery, published in Nature Neuroscience, is expected to lead to a clinical trial to test the benefits of the treatment in patients. The findings also hold implications for other cancers that do not respond to immunotherapy.

Cancer survival disparities in minority children, adolescents greater for more treatable cancers

Racial and ethnic minority children and adolescents with cancer have a higher risk of death than non-Hispanic white children and adolescents, with evidence for larger disparities in survival for more treatable cancers, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.“The results suggest that there are modifiable racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer survival,” said Kim Johnson, associate professor and senior author of “Associations Between Race/Ethnicity and US Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Survival by Treatment Amenability,” published Feb.

Algorithm Reduces Need for Therapy in Children With Intermediate-Risk Neuroblastoma

Roswell Park’s Dr. Clare Twist led an effort to develop and validate a new treatment algorithm for infants and children with neuroblastoma. In a new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the team reports that many patients can safely receive less extensive therapy.