Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research receives 250,000 Grant

Over 13,000 children under age 19 will be diagnosed with cancer this year. That’s roughly two average-size classrooms of students diagnosed each school day. Cancers found in children are inherently different from those commonly seen in adults. Yet, children are treated with drugs developed for adults. Although these drugs have saved the lives of many children, the side effects are severe, including neurological damage and secondary cancers.

“These side effects most often affect health and development well beyond childhood,” says Ayyappan Rajasekaran, PhD, Director of the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research. “They also have a major impact throughout the lifespan of pediatric cancer survivors and can cause secondary cancers that are unrelated to the original diagnosis.”

One of the missions of the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research (NCCCR) is to discover targeted drugs for pediatric cancers. The NCCCR, established in 2007 as a division of Nemours Biomedical Research at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, focuses on translational research to improve outcome and reduce side-effects due to treatment in pediatric cancer patients.

Targeted drug discovery is achieved by High-Throughput Screening (HTS), which is a way to rapidly test thousands of chemical compounds to identify candidates for development into drugs. While conventional manual methods allow testing of just a few compounds at a time, HTS screens thousands of potential drugs in a short time with the use of robotic equipment. As a rule of thumb, HTS can accomplish in 3-4 days what a human would need 3-4 years to accomplish.

The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation provided their first research grant of $250,000 to the NCCCR for the purchase of the robotic equipment to start a HTS laboratory to aid in the discovery of new and potent drugs to treat pediatric cancers.

“Having new targeted drugs evaluated for pediatric cancers will make a tremendous difference in treating pediatric cancer patients and this support from the B+ Foundation will make this happen for children,” says Dr. Rajasekaran. “Our goal, as it is for every pediatric oncologist and every family affected by this dreaded disease, is 100 percent cure rate of childhood cancer with minimal side-effects. We will do whatever it takes to achieve this goal.”

“Following a very thorough national review of proposals, we selected NCCCR with great confidence,” says Joe McDonough, President of The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation and Andrew’s Dad. “We will never stop fighting to find cures for pediatric cancers and, in the shorter-term, improved chemotherapeutic treatments. Our family is suffering the greatest tragedy of losing our 14 year old son and brother, Andrew, and we pray for the day when families do not have to deal with these insidious diseases.”

About the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research

The Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research is research entity of Nemours Biomedical Research at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. The NCCCR is located in a fully renovated laboratory space in 1701 Rockland Road, Wilmington, DE. The goal of the center is to evolve into a leader in research focusing on discovery of new drugs and biomarkers for childhood cancers and reduce side effects arising due to cancer treatment in children. The NCCCR will work closely with the University of Delaware, Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, Center for Translational Cancer Research, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and the Thomas Jefferson University. For more information, please visit www.nemours.org/link/ncccr.

The Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children is a division of Nemours, which operates one of the nation’s largest health systems devoted to pediatric patient care, teaching, and research. Set on a 300-acre campus near Wilmington, Delaware, the 200-bed duPont Hospital for Children offers all the specialties of pediatric medicine, surgery, and dentistry. Starting with Alfred I. duPont’s bequest over 70 years ago, Nemours has grown into a multi-dimensional organization offering personalized clinical and preventive care focused on children. For more information, please visit Nemours.org.

About the B+ Foundation

The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation honors the memory of Andrew McDonough, a 14-year-old athlete and ‘A’ student from Wilmington, Delaware. Andrew went from playing four soccer games on January 27, 2007 to cardiac arrest and a diagnosis of leukemia and sepsis just 48 hours later. Andrew’s blood type and the family’s motto was, and continues to be, “B+” …“Be Positive.” Andrew’s valiant journey was chronicled by local and national media and his website received over 1,000,000 hits in the first six months. Andrew went to Heaven on July 14, 2007. The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation is an IRS-certified 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For more information please visit, www.BePositive.org.