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Children with some kinds of blood cancers (leukemias) are not cured by regular chemotherapy and are at high risk of dying without better treatment options. Dr. Niswander is working to create new treatments that are more personalized for each child’s leukemia cells. The first treatment targets ‘miswired’ communication networks inside the leukemia cells that make them cancerous, and the second treatment uses the body’s own immune system to attack the leukemia cells. Each of these treatments is able to kill a patient’s cancer cells. But, eventually the leukemia cells develop changes that allow them to begin growing again despite the therapy, and the cancer comes back. These two therapies have never been combined together in patients. In this project, Dr. Niswander and colleagues are studying the best ways to combine these new treatments for two kinds of high-risk pediatric leukemias, since often two treatments that work in different ways are better than one. She is hopeful that by using patients’ own leukemia cells they will identify the best personalized treatments for future testing in pediatric patients to improve their chances of cure and living long and healthy lives.

For 2022, this grant is named for the Invictus Fund, a St. Baldrick’s Hero Fund created in memory of Holden Gilkinson. It honors Holden's unconquerable spirit in his battle with bilateral Wilms tumor by funding cures and treatments to mitigate side and late effects of childhood cancer.

In 2021, this grant was generously supported by Super Soph's Pediatric Cancer Research Fund, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund. Sophie Rossi was diagnosed with AML at 3 months of age. Throughout her courageous battle, she was always smiling, always joyful. This fund was created to honor her spunky, sweet spirit by funding research to find cures for AML and all childhood cancers.