Wheaton Rotary helps fund two pediatric brain cancer studies
New pediatric brain cancer research soon will begin in Chicago and San Francisco, thanks in part to a recent donation from the Wheaton Rotary Club.
The organization presented a $25,000 check to the Ross K. MacNeill Foundation last week. It was the largest gift ever given by the club.
The foundation was formed in memory of Ross MacNeill, an 11-year-old from Wheaton who died in 2013 from brain cancer. Its mission is to fund and accelerate research for pediatric brain cancer and provide help for the homeless, which was important to Ross.
Ross' mother, Kim MacNeill, said the money raised by Wheaton Rotary will go toward two studies. The first will be done at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago by Dr. Jason R. Fangusaro, a neuro-oncologist who is set to begin a clinical trial this summer for a brain cancer vaccine.
"This will be one of the first pediatric vaccine trials offered and we are funding it exclusively," Kim said.
When a brain tumor is removed, she said, a piece of the tissue will be preserved and used in a vaccine that will be injected back into the child.
"For us to be able to fund and sponsor and get that trial literally delivered to children is incredibly exciting," Kim said.
The second study will be done by at the University of California San Francisco by Dr. William A. Weiss, who has more than 30 years of experience researching pediatric brain cancers.
Weiss will be specifically examining medulloblastoma, which is the type of brain cancer Ross had. The research is mouse model based, meaning a human stem cell brain tumor - which is an exact replica of what a child would have - will be formed in mice and examined.
"(Weiss has) identified that there are three proteins that seem to work together to cooperate to support the growth of that specific type of high risk brain tumors," Kim said. "He will treat, with drugs, those three proteins and the outcome of that will be to come up with drug treatments that will cease that tumor growth."
Any successful research will then move into clinical trials for children, Kim said.
"You have been a tremendous support in making both of those things happen and we are very proud to thank you for that," she said.
The foundation's upcoming events include a dodgeball tournament open to all ages at Franklin Middle School in Wheaton on March 5 and 6 and the Wiesbrook Tiger Trot 5K race and fun run on May 9. For information about the events or the foundation, visit www.r33m.org.