"Game Changer"
It's been a busy week meeting with students at the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and the University of Washington. And, as much as the students energize me, I have to share a story with you that has given me more hope than I've had in the 8 years being in this fight. And, it's all been made possible because of all of us working together for the kids.
On Wed, Carly Bergstein and I visited the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children's Hospital. As you will see in the picture, we had the check presentation for a grant that we actually gave them in December. This was the second grant from The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation to purchase key pieces of equipment to aid them in their groundbreaking immunotherapy work. Dr. Leslie Kean, pictured below, updated us on the progress of their immunotherapy work and took us around the lab. We got an opportunity to speak with the researchers who are actually using the Droplet PCR machine that we purchased for the lab. One investigator said that this machine is literally 1,000 times faster and more powerful than the previous equipment that they were using. It is enabling them to do things that weren't feasible before. In his words, the gift of this machine that The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation gave them is a "GAME CHANGER"!
The B+ Foundation's support is just a very small part of the overall immunotherapy program at the Ben Towne Center, but I'm so proud that we're a part of it. There have been nearly 30 children enrolled in this trial and children who had "virtually no chance of survival" are alive today!
More importantly, though, we had another meeting where we met with 2 very senior, executive-level researchers. I am very cautious when I talk about early research success because samples are small, late-stage effects haven't been measured, and cancer is a very formidable opponent that has a way of staying one step ahead of treatment by resisting medicines and sort of morphing in different ways. But, it appears very possible that there is a light at the end of a not-too-distant tunnel for virtually curing one, major type of childhood cancer and it is quite possible that this success may translate to some of the other types of childhood cancer. Still early, of course, but this is the most encouraging update that I have seen in 8 years. It's energizing and we should all be very proud to be a part of this. I will keep you abreast of continued progress updates.
Thank you for making this possible.
B+
Ali & Andrew's Dad
