Students in leadership positions learn about brain tumors and gain real world experience in running a non-profit business while raising funds for brain tumor research. Beneficiaries of the money we raise are Barrow Neurological Institute, National Brain Tumor Society, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Translational Genomics Research Institute, and University of Arizona.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world..." Gandhi
THANK YOU for those who attended the 2020 SSBTR Cure-a-thon
ANGEL’S STORY - as told by Angel's mother
On May 4, 2018 Angel Carden was like any ordinary 8 year old boy. He was just finishing up 3rd grade and enjoying the last days of Little League Baseball. After a day on the baseball field, Angel started to have seizures later on that night. We rushed him to an emergency room and a CT scan discovered that Angel had a large tumor growing in the back of his brain. Our world felt like it was ending, we were scared, and we desperately feared for our son’s dear life.
Angel was immediately transferred by ambulance to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, only one of a few places in the country that could properly care for our son. By the time we were admitted the tumor was causing increased pressure to his brain. This caused Angel to continuously vomit, barely speak, unable to move and started to lose his vision. Angel’s neurosurgeon Dr. Ruth Bristol was the one to diagnose our son with Stage 4 Medulloblastoma. She let us know that he had to immediately have surgery for 2 shunts, to relieve the pressure on his brain before any permanent damage was done. We spent 14 days in the Pediatric Intense Care Unit and Angel’s final surgery lasted over 7 hours to remove his brain tumor.
We prayed so much during that time, and had started to meet so many new people that cared for our son as much as we did. After the surgery Angel could barely move or talk, which is common with posterior fossa syndrome. When we left the hospital at the end of May, Angel was in a wheelchair and his Dad had to lift him into our car to take him home. Every day I watch my son defy the odds against him. He went to physical, speech, and occupational therapy; exceeded every goal they set for him in the span of 4 months. Since then Angel has went on to complete Proton Radiation Therapy as Scottsdale Mayo Clinic under Dr. Sameer Keole for about 8 weeks. He now walks, talks, and went from writing with his left hand to right hand. Angel is even going to school when he feels up to it. Angel just wanted to share his story to never give up, and he wants to give back for every child that may be going through the same circumstance that Angel has been through.
PLEASE SUPPORT SSBTR to help Angel and the far too many like him!
“The progress of the world will call for the best that all of us have to give.”
— Mary McLeod Bethune
A mouse model of glioblastoma suggests that this recalcitrant cancer originates from a pool of stem cells that can be a significant distance away from the resulting tumors. The findings of a new study, led by Children's National Hospital researchers and published July 22 in the journal Nature Communications, suggest new ways to fight this deadly disease.
Researchers affiliated with the University of Sao Paulo's Ribeirao Preto Medical School (FMRP-USP) in Brazil have demonstrated the potential of a leukemia drug, arsenic trioxide, to treat medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer most common in children.
After discovering how a specific gene fuels a deadly form of children's brain tumor, University of Manitoba researchers have successfully decreased this cancer in mice.
Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have made a new discovery that could make all the difference in diagnosing the deadliest type of brain tumor. They’ve identified a gene that causes the deadliest brain tumor: glioblastoma.
The recently published study used cutting-edge methods, such as single cell sequencing, to conduct genome-wide analysis of individual tumor cells and to describe their molecular biological characteristics. The group found that ependymomas are very heterogeneous and consist of many cells with different characteristics, which complicates their treatment and might be the reason for chemotherapy resistance.
Working at the Australian Synchrotron facility in Melbourne, the scientists tested a technique for the treatment of high-grade brain cancer using personalized microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), combining it with an innovative assessment of tumor dose-coverage. MRT uses ultra-fine X-rays—each smaller in diameter than a human hair—to destroying the cancerous tissue while not harming the surrounding healthy tissue.
