Research Outcomes: Inspiring Hope
Our St. Baldrick’s Foundation Research Outcomes blogs highlight examples of the progress your donations are supporting. This quarterly edition focuses on promising new treatments for two types of pediatric sarcoma, protecting kids’ brains while treating brain tumors, and the ease of treating retinoblastoma with chemotherapy.
Thank you for making this research possible.
Research Outcomes: Unveiling Hope
Our St. Baldrick’s Foundation Research Outcomes blogs highlight examples of the progress your donations are supporting. This quarterly edition focuses on understanding how rhabdomyosarcoma grows, using immunotherapy to treat pediatric brain tumors and relapsed neuroblastoma, as well as research to understand the experiences of adolescents and young adults being treated for advanced pediatric cancer.
Thank you for making research – and hope — possible.
What Is Sarcoma?
What are childhood sarcomas?
A sarcoma is a tumor that grows in the bone or soft tissue (muscles, nerves and fat) anywhere in the body. Sarcomas are rare, especially in young children, accounting for less than 15% of childhood cancers.
Pediatric sarcomas are classified into two major categories: bone sarcomas and soft tissue sarcomas.
Bone sarcomas can appear in any bone, but are most often seen in the leg, arm, pelvis or rib. The most common bone sarcomas are Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma.
Soft-tissue sarcomas can occur in any soft tissue, anywhere in the body. The most common soft-tissue sarcomas are embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.
Within these two umbrella categories, there are many different types of sarcomas that can develop in children.
Sarcomas can start off being tiny lumps that you can’t feel. They can spread through the body, or metastasize, before they grow big enough to be seen.
Research Outcomes: Fighting Cancer & Helping Survivors
This quarterly edition of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation Research Outcomes features work focused on fighting neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia as well as research to improve identification of survivors at risk for cardiotoxicity.
Thank you for making these outcomes – and more – possible.
Meet the RED Sparkle Octopus Crusaders & Their Inspiration
by David Gosser, team captain and dad
The RED Sparkle Octopus Crusaders (RSOC) Team honors four children – Nina, Tommy, Amaya, and Kristina – who met in 2005, while in treatment at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD) in Norfolk, Virginia. They started shaving individually in 2005/06 and formed the original team in 2009; this version came together in 2014. Other families affected by childhood cancer and dozens of good friends have joined the team’s efforts over the years. Since inception, the RSOC have raised over $380,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. They remain fully committed to funding research to create cures, united by the hope that they are helping other kids and families find better outcomes. The team’s name is a combined tribute to the memories of the four Angels.
Volunteer Spotlight: Richard Kligler
St. Baldrick’s volunteers tend to be remarkable folks. But even among tens of thousands of outstanding people who are quite literally saving lives by supporting childhood cancer research, Richard Kligler and his family stand out.
What Happens When “Do What You Want” Becomes “Ladies’ Night” for 800 Women?
It started as a lot of St. Baldrick’s Foundation events do: a few people getting together at the local spot to shave heads and help raise money for pediatric cancer research. After seeing volunteers participate, Terry Binkely-Paterno wanted to get involved in a different way.
And for very good reason, as her nephew, Aiden, had been diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in July of 2008. Wanting to take action, Terry and her mothers’ group – the Wednesday Mothers Club – decided to host a bake sale and contribute the proceeds.
Terry (third from left) and other Ladies’ Night committee members.
Childhood Cancer Survivor Goes From Cancer Free to College Grad
(Left) Sean in treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. (Right) Sean with his mom, Marcia, and dad, Richard, during his graduation from Indiana University.
Honored Kid Sean Kligler graduated from college in May. The day was a tangle of emotions – happiness and sadness both.
“At graduation, I was happy — all those years of schooling finally paid off. I was able to get a college degree,” he said. “Of course, I was sad as well. I really enjoyed my time in college and I made some really good friends along the way.”
But there was another emotion mixed into that bittersweet day. It was gratitude. That’s because when Sean was 5 years old, he was diagnosed with childhood cancer. And when you have cancer, surviving to graduate college, or even attend college, is anything but guaranteed.
Tom & Keira: Fighting Fires and Childhood Cancer Together
When Tom agreed to shave his head for the first time, he was simply doing it to help fund childhood cancer research. Then, Tom met Honored Kid Keira, and his decision to shave for St. Baldrick’s took on a whole new meaning.
Honored Kid and Honorary Firefighter Keira poses with her custom-made helmet at the O’Fallon fire station.
Tom is a local firefighter in O’Fallon, Missouri. Keira is an 11-year-old girl currently undergoing treatment for a type of childhood cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma.
And the two of them are the best of friends.
What Is Proton Therapy?
Dr. Ralph Ermoian is a radiation oncologist and St. Baldrick’s infrastructure grant recipient at the University of Washington. He explains what proton therapy is, how it works, and how this treatment is helping kids and adults with cancer.
What is proton therapy?
Proton therapy is a type of radiation used commonly for children with cancer. Like traditional x-ray radiation, it is used to treat cancers, but proton therapy affects less of the healthy tissue surrounding the tumor.
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