CureSearch
Children’s Oncology Group
Pioneering cancer research leads to lifesaving discoveries. be eradicated. While the discoveries that occur in the
The Children’s Oncology Group (COG) unites the best of laboratories are keys to success, what really turns these
the academic and clinical research worlds to move the innovations into cures is the application of those fi ndings to
most promising treatments from laboratory to clinical trial to new clinical interventions and therapies tested and proven
standard of care. in clinical trials. In addition, the COG has the world’s largest
Treating more than 90% of children with cancer
in North America, the world’s premiere childhood
“Today, I say that we are resilient, we are strong, we are
cancer research organization, unites a network of determined. So let us raise our voices and make ourselves
over 5,000 dedicated pediatric oncology experts,
impossible to ignore, for no mere politics can stand against
located at more than 200 leading children’s
the power that lies in our stories and within our hearts,
hospitals, university hospitals and cancer centers
in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland,
and we will not stop until we reach the day that our dream
the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand.
becomes their reality and their hope is made manifest and
By working together, these clinical investigators
childhood cancer is no more.”
improve cure rates at a much faster pace than
could any one individual or single institution acting
– Sebastian Gillen, Childhood Cancer Survivor
alone.
The Children’s Oncology Group is responsible for achieving
tissue bank with clinically annotated information from
important milestones that have greatly advanced the fi ght
treatment trials. With more than 20 years of data, the COG
against the disease. Over the past 50 years, the cure rates
tissue bank is an essential component to research and new
of childhood cancer have gone from 0% to 78% overall
discoveries in treating common and rare tumors in children.
today, but, the death of one more child to cancer is one too
Only research cures childhood cancer. More funding is
many.
needed to continue the research initiatives so that we can
The Children’s Oncology Group conducts research
conquer childhood cancer … a critical milestone we all wish
on all cancer types, so that someday the disease will
to see in our lifetime.
Ian F. Pollack,
or the tumor itself that compromises their long-term
quality of life.
M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.P.
Accordingly, the overall goals of
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine the COG CNS committee are to
improve the prognosis of children
As Chair of the Central Nervous System Committee, I am
with tumors that have proven
eager to share some positive research fi ndings in the fi ght
resistant to prior therapies and
against central nervous system (CNS) tumors. It is important
the quality of life of children with
to mention that survival rates for CNS tumors have not seen
treatment-responsive tumors, using
a dramatic change in the past 20 years, as other childhood
the results of previous clinical and
cancers have. They currently have the highest mortality rate
molecular correlative studies as a
of any childhood cancer. Although each of the subtypes of
platform from which to build new,
childhood brain tumors presents unique biological questions
and hopefully improved, therapeutic
and clinical problems, they share common challenges.
strategies.
CNS neoplasms are the most common solid tumors of
childhood and currently have the highest mortality rate.
Signifi cant fi ndings from our
Although improvements have been made in the prognosis
research have found it is possible to safely reduce
of certain tumor types, such as non-disseminated
the amount of radiation for children with standard-risk
medulloblastoma and low-grade glioma, other tumors
medulloblastoma, which will result in better quality of life for
continue to carry a dismal prognosis. Children who survive
those patients.
their disease commonly suffer morbidity from treatment
– continued on next page
CureSearch Annual Report 2009
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