Childhood Cancer Could Hold a Key to the Cure According to “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies”

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation leads the way in Childhood Cancer Research

LOS ANGELES (April 2, 2015) – Emily Whitehead, then 7, became the first child to receive a new immunotherapy treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in 2012 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia – a treatment that saved her life. “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies,” a three-part film series presented by PBS from filmmaker Ken Burns, based on the book by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, looks at cancer success stories, revealing the lessons scientists have learned from fighting childhood cancers, and how those are helping to cure other cancers.

According to Dr. Mukherjee, clinical trials have been the pathway to finding the cure for cancers such as leukemia. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest non-government funder of childhood cancer grants worldwide, helps to fund virtually every widespread clinical trial for childhood cancer research. St. Baldrick’s funds also support new discovery and pre-clinical research to develop new treatments – including the work of St. Baldrick’s Scholar Dr. David Barrett, who was involved in the treatment that saved Emily, who is featured in the film. This work continues through a Pediatric Cancer Dream Team funded by St. Baldrick’s and Stand Up To Cancer.

“Many of the greatest breakthroughs in cancer have come from pediatrics,” said Robert J. Arceci, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of St. Baldrick’s Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee, and Director, Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders; Phoenix Children’s Hospital. “Chemotherapy, different types of bone marrow transplants, gene therapies, and advanced clinical trial systems all first developed for children with cancer, and they now play a huge role in the way adult cancers are treated.”

As explained through the St. Baldrick’s Childhood Cancer Ripple Effect video, diagnosis and cancer treatments will have a lifelong effect on a child. While there are exciting research advances like the one that saved Emily, some types of childhood cancer still have no cure. Join us #CancerFilm – www.stbaldricks.org – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Vimeo.

About St. Baldrick’s Foundation
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity that funds the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers. Since 2005, St. Baldrick’s has awarded more than $154 million to support lifesaving research. For info: call 1.888.899.BALD or visit www.StBaldricks.org.

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