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Neuroblastoma is a common solid tumor in children, accounting for 1 in 10 new cancer diagnoses. Approximately half of the children with the high-risk form of the disease will die, and the survivors will bear a lifelong burden from the intensity of therapy. We are desperately in need of novel treatment approaches. The most aggressive neuroblastomas have extra copies of a gene called MYCN, which causes neuroblastoma cells to have different metabolism from normal cells. As the Mighty Micah's Mission Fund St. Baldrick's Fellow, Dr. Maxwell is investigating the abnormal metabolism of neuroblastoma in order to uncover new potential therapies. He has found that the amino acid, asparagine, is critical to the growth and survival of neuroblastoma, and has identified two medications (called DON and asparaginase) that, when combined, reduce the levels of this critical nutrient and effectively kill the most aggressive neuroblastomas. This work could serve as the basis for new clinical trials with this drug combination in children with neuroblastoma. Dr. Maxwell aims to exploit neuroblastoma's metabolic Achilles' heel in order to improve outcomes for children who suffer from this devastating disease. This approach holds great promise for future targeted therapies to treat not only neuroblastoma, but many other cancers that rely on abnormal metabolism.

This grant is named for Mighty Micah's Mission Fund, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund. Diagnosed when he was 15 months old with high risk neuroblastoma, Micah was in treatment for nearly 7 years and survived two relapses. Thanks to research supported by St. Baldrick’s and the development of a new drug that is less toxic and more effective, Micah has no evidence of disease today. He has been named a 2020 Ambassador for St. Baldrick’s and as a science fan who hopes to become a doctor one day, Micah is grateful to the researchers who strive to find cures: “Those medicines save kids’ lives and one of them saved mine.” This fund honors Micah’s cancer journey and supports neuroblastoma research to find better treatments and cures for kids with this disease.