CureSearch Annual Report 6


chance of being cured as those treated on adult protocols. The 5-year survival rate for older patients enrolled in COG ALL trials in the late 1990s was more than 75%.


• Over 10,000 children have enrolled in COG ALL trials since 2005.


• We now use minimal residual disease (MRD) testing to adjust the treatment intensity of therapy for children enrolled in COG ALL trials and have shown that MRD results are among the strongest predictors of outcomes.


• Biology studies conducted by the COG ALL committee discovered that genetic changes commonly occurring in ALL are associated with poor outcomes, and may be excellent targets for new therapies. Clinical trials have been developed to test drugs targeted at one such lesion - JAK mutations.


Stephen P. Hunger, MD Professor of Pediatrics and Ergen Family Chair in Pediatric Cancer Chief, Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT Director, Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders University of Colorado School of Medicine & The Children’s Hospital Aurora, CO


transplant, the favorable NPM and CEBPa mutation risk factors, and the greatly refined method of minimal residual disease detection. These will now be added to our cytogenetic and pathologic factors in the upcoming Phase III trial.


Through this stratification, future targeted therapies have increased likelihood of improving our patients’ outcomes.


Alan S Gamis, MD, MPH Division of Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplantation Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics


Hope Street Kids


In 2009, Hope Street Kids, a program of CureSearch, provided nearly a quarter of a million dollars to three young investigators at different universities conducting laboratory research in the fight against children’s cancer. Laboratory research is important as it lays the foundation for the COG clinical trials in the future.


COG 10th Anniversary


As we mark our 10th anniversary, I look back and see that we have charted the way to improve outcomes for children with AML (3 year overall survival is 66% on AAML03P1) through reductions in relapse and treatment mortality and that past AML trials laid the groundwork for our current risk stratified approach.


Initially, our work led to more specific therapies for the subtypes, APL and Down Syndrome associated AML. Our work now is laying the framework for similar gains via risk stratification in the general AML population. Important risk stratification factors derived from COG trials include the high risk factor, high FLT3- ITD allelic ratio which in subsequent research finds this can be overcome with stem cell


Bob Evans Farms, whose executive team is featured in the blue shirts, once again generously donated and prepared the barbeque at the Hope Street Kids Annual Family Night at the Zoo. Along with the Bob Evans Farms team is Randy Walker, co-founder of Hope Street Kids.


To fund these researchers, the program held a number of successful fundraising events including the 10th Annual Caroline Pryce Walker Memorial Event at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio and the 10th Annual Chili Cook Off sponsored by The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, Chapter of the American Pharmacist Association, Academy of Students of Pharmacy. The Cook Off event was held just before the Michigan vs. Ohio State rivalry football game and attracted more than 400 people from The Ohio State University and Columbus cancer communities.


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