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Brain Tumor Network Guides Patients and Empowers Care
A few months ago, Rally Mom Tiffany shared with Rally Foundation the outstanding support their family has been receiving from the Brain Tumor Network (BTN) for her son and Rally Kid, Logan: “BTN has been a wonderful resource for our family. They are responsive, knowledgeable and compassionate.” BTN is the largest brain tumor patient support organization of its kind in the U.S. Since 2014, BTN has provided free navigation services to almost 2,000 patients. BTN pediatric brain tumor navigation program provides age-appropriate services for families with children under the age of 18 whose primary diagnosis is a brain tumor. BTN partners with care teams to meet each individual patient’s goal of care. How BTN Helps Led by Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Nurse Navigator Jenna Tozzi, BA, RN, BTN’s pediatric services include: diagnosis and treatment options education, treatment center identification,...
What Is A Second Opinion?
Hey Mom and Dad, Let’s chat, Cancer Parent to Cancer Parent, about seeking a second opinion. I’ll be the first to admit I was very nervous when seeking a second opinion. I did not want my child’s team to feel insulted or think that I didn’t trust them. We LOVE our team, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they love our daughter. And guess what? After receiving the second opinion, the first thing our primary doctor said was “Never feel bad about seeking a second opinion.” In the immortal words of artist and rapper Macklemore, let’s talk about “What it is. What it does. What it isn’t.” What it is: A second opinion is defined as an independent professional review and assessment of a patient’s illness. A doctor, who is not currently treating your child, carefully reviews the treatment plan and confirms the diagnosis, offers advice, education, and may suggest alternative treatments....
Rally Awards Most Grants Ever
Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research Awards $4 Million in 2023 In 2023, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research (“Rally”) will award a total of $4 million to 57 researchers across 30 institutions worldwide – the largest number of childhood cancer research grants ever to be distributed since Rally was founded in 2005. “This brings the total amount of research funds that Rally has awarded to $29.4 million – and it is the highest amount we have been able to award in one year,” says Dean Crowe, Founder and CEO. “In 2022, we were delighted by the significant increase in funds raised thanks to our grassroot supporters, special events and incredibly generous corporate donors. Our mission speaks to all: to fund the best research wherever it may be to help find better childhood cancer treatments with fewer long-term side effects and, ultimately, cures.” Rally grants are awarded...
What Is CAR-T?
You may have heard of CAR T-cell therapy, also called CAR T, but what is it? It is an immunotherapy treatment that uses your child’s own immune cells, specifically the T-cells, to fight specific blood cancers. CAR-T can be a frontline treatment or an option if one or more treatments did not work, meaning the cancer is resistant to treatment, or if the cancer returned. Medical professionals do a blood draw to collect your child’s T-cells, a type of white blood cell. Then the T-cells are sent to a specialized lab where they are changed (genetically modified) into individualized CAR T cells with the goal of making them destroyers of the cancer. CAR stands for chimeric antigen receptor and that is what is attached to your child’s T cells and programmed to attack the cancer cells. It takes two to four weeks to make CAR T cells. The CAR T cells are then infused through an IV into your child...
What Is a Bone Marrow Transplant?
You just learned that your child has to have a bone marrow transplant. It sounds ominous. You have a lot of questions. Like, what exactly is bone marrow and what is a bone marrow transplant? Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. It creates red and white blood cells, as well as platelets. In addition, bone marrow contains immature blood-forming cells known as hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs. These stem cells are unspecialized, and they can either remain stem cells or mature into different kinds of blood cells. A bone marrow transplant is a medical procedure that replaces bone marrow that has been damaged or destroyed by disease, infection, or chemotherapy. It involves transplanting healthy blood stem cells into the patient so that they can travel to the patient’s bone marrow where they start producing new blood cells and promote growth of new bone marrow. Healthy...
Rally Career Development Research Grant Award Update
An Update on the $300,000 Rally Career Development Award to Dr. Rodriguez-Blanco for Medulloblastoma Research In December 2022, Rally Foundation’s COO Reid Crowe presented a $300,000 Career Development Research Grant to Dr. Jezabel Rodriguez-Blanco, Ph.D. at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Her research is focused on medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain tumor, with the goal of finding new novel therapeutics for this underserved group of patients. We sat down with Dr. Rodriguez-Blanco to see how her research was progressing. Excerpts of our interview with this brilliant childhood cancer researcher are below: What does it mean to your career to win the Rally Career Development Grant with the goal of expediting your research to obtain federal funding? The career development award I got from Rally was my first grant as an independent investigator. Early on,...
Brain Tumor Network Guides Patients and Empowers Care
A few months ago, Rally Mom Tiffany shared with Rally Foundation the outstanding support their family has been receiving from the Brain Tumor Network (BTN) for her son and Rally Kid, Logan: “BTN has been a wonderful resource for our family. They are responsive, knowledgeable and compassionate.” BTN is the largest brain tumor patient support organization of its kind in the U.S. Since 2014, BTN has provided free navigation services to almost 2,000 patients. BTN pediatric brain tumor navigation...
What Is A Second Opinion?
Hey Mom and Dad, Let’s chat, Cancer Parent to Cancer Parent, about seeking a second opinion. I’ll be the first to admit I was very nervous when seeking a second opinion. I did not want my child’s team to feel insulted or think that I didn’t trust them. We LOVE our team, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they love our daughter. And guess what? After receiving the second opinion, the first thing our primary doctor said was “Never feel bad about seeking a second opinion.” In the...
Rally Awards Most Grants Ever
Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research Awards $4 Million in 2023 In 2023, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research (“Rally”) will award a total of $4 million to 57 researchers across 30 institutions worldwide – the largest number of childhood cancer research grants ever to be distributed since Rally was founded in 2005. “This brings the total amount of research funds that Rally has awarded to $29.4 million – and it is the highest amount we have been able to award in one year,”...
What Is CAR-T?
You may have heard of CAR T-cell therapy, also called CAR T, but what is it? It is an immunotherapy treatment that uses your child’s own immune cells, specifically the T-cells, to fight specific blood cancers. CAR-T can be a frontline treatment or an option if one or more treatments did not work, meaning the cancer is resistant to treatment, or if the cancer returned. Medical professionals do a blood draw to collect your child’s T-cells, a type of white blood cell. Then the T-cells are sent to...
What Is a Bone Marrow Transplant?
You just learned that your child has to have a bone marrow transplant. It sounds ominous. You have a lot of questions. Like, what exactly is bone marrow and what is a bone marrow transplant? Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. It creates red and white blood cells, as well as platelets. In addition, bone marrow contains immature blood-forming cells known as hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs. These stem cells are unspecialized, and they can either remain stem cells or mature...
Rally Career Development Research Grant Award Update
An Update on the $300,000 Rally Career Development Award to Dr. Rodriguez-Blanco for Medulloblastoma Research In December 2022, Rally Foundation’s COO Reid Crowe presented a $300,000 Career Development Research Grant to Dr. Jezabel Rodriguez-Blanco, Ph.D. at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Her research is focused on medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain tumor, with the goal of finding new novel therapeutics for this underserved group of patients. We sat down with...