Targeting tumors.
CURE Childhood Cancer recently donated $3 million in research grants to Aflac Precision Medicine Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, bringing the total to $8.4 million since the program’s founding in 2017. At the time, the precision medicine program was only the third of its kind in the U.S. that focused on kids with high risk cancers or those who relapse after front line protocol.
“Children’s cancers are biologically different from cancers in adults, and only 4% of the standard research looks at cancers that affect kids,” says Kristin Connor, CURE’s executive director. “Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, Aflac focuses on precision medicine that maps a child’s tumors and targets the abnormalities.” During the first four years of the program, 78% of the kids who received the genetic sequencing had results that affected their treatment. “It validated that it’s crucial to use treatments most likely to work for children,” Connor says.
Since 2006, CURE has raised more than $75 million with nearly $37 million going to research. The organization also fully funds training for critically needed pediatric oncology fellows and supports families. “After the Ronald McDonald House had to shut down last year due to COVID-19, parents had no place to stay, so we shifted some of our funding to provide housing.”
For more information, visit curechildhoodcancer.org.
