American Cancer Society awards 'Shine A Light' Funds to neuroblastoma researcher

The American Cancer Society has selected Dr. Andras Heczey of Texas Children's Cancer Center as the recipient of a four-year grant funded by TODAY Show viewers through its 'Shine A Light' campaign. The American Cancer Society also contributed from its own research budget to ensure the grant's full funding. Dr. Heczey will launch a project to assess and perfect cell therapy as a means of treating neuroblastoma, a common cause of cancer-related deaths in infants and children. The findings from this work will contribute significantly to an overall understanding of the expanding role of cell therapy in pediatric cancer.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2016, Dr. Heczey will begin efforts to test cell therapy on neuroblastoma models, measure its safety and effectiveness, and take subsequent steps to increase the treatment's efficacy. Neuroblastoma is the third most common cause of childhood cancer deaths and is, outside of brain tumors, the most common solid cancer type among children.

"Neuroblastoma is a critical area of pediatric cancer research," Dr. Heczey explains. "In general, we have made huge strides towards treating and beating many childhood cancers. Thanks to ongoing research supported by organizations like the American Cancer Society, we now see upwards of 80 percent five-year overall survival rates for infants and children with cancer. That's incredible advancement. Sadly, however, only approximately half of patients who receive a high-risk neuroblastoma diagnosis survive and we haven't seen dramatic improvement in the outlook of newly diagnosed patients. Progress is urgently needed, and I am confident that immunotherapy is the key to saving more young lives from neuroblastoma."

"Immunotherapy is the most exciting and rapidly advancing approach to treating cancer," says Dr. Bill Chambers, senior vice president, extramural research for the American Cancer Society. "The results of clinical trials in a number of settings have been terrific. Funds raised by Hoda Kotb of the TODAY Show, made funding of this work possible and together with some donations made directly to the Society we are fully funding the $583,000 of the proposed work. We thank Hoda Kotb and the TODAY Show team for their incredible support, and we thank every person who donated to this effort for making Dr. Heczey's vision a reality."

Provided by American Cancer Society