The new project of the Cris Against Cancer Foundation is called Lydia (in the picture), a 6-year-old girl who died for Acute leukemia. Her parents, Begoña and Antonio fought for almost four years so that their daughter would receive the best treatments. They managed to mobilize their friends, family and solidarity people through social networks by carrying out events in different cities and towns with the objective of raising funds to take it to Italy, where they received an experimental medication although the cancer was too advanced to receive a transplant of marrow.
Lydia's parents try to survive without her and have focused their efforts on getting other children with the same illness as their daughter to have a chance to receive a bone marrow transplant. Thus, have donated 120,000 euros that managed to raise to help his daughter, to the Cris Against Cancer Foundation to investigate the Acute Leukemia in Children.
Marta Cardona, director of the Cris Against Cancer Foundation, will use the funds to launch a Innovative Clinical Trial for Children with Acute Leukemia and without alternative to treatment. A three-year investigation that needs a total budget of 360,000 euros.
The initiative is announced today, International Day of the fight against Childhood Cancer and serves to remember that in Spain they are diagnosed annually 1,400 children with cancer, of which 280 die. It is the first cause of infant death in Spain and to fight the disease one of the best ways to do so is to work in research.
He Dr. Antonio Pérez it is the investigating doctor who directs he job and indicates that: “the objective is to reduce the disease to the maximum in patients with leukemia prior to hematopoietic progenitor transplantation. For this we will use rescue chemotherapy With cellular therapy, with NK cells (Natural Killer). The possibility of transplant healing depends largely on the burden of disease prior to it. ” He has also indicated that “NK cells are lymphocytes of the innate immune system whose primary function is defense against infections and tumors. In laboratories they will work on the manipulation of these cells through cultures to multiply them by millions and make them more active. These cells, from healthy donors, will then be implanted in patients, and together with chemotherapy, it is intended to kill the maximum number of malignant cells by increasing the antileukemia effect. ”
Currently The project is under evaluation by the Ethics Committee and the Medicines Agency, it is expected to have approval in March to start as soon as possible.
We remind you that the Cris Against Cancer Foundation is the only private and non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to research against this disease with funds raised from individuals and companies. In three years the Foundation has donated 1.2 million euros to different Spanish centers and hospitals where research projects are being carried out.
In addition Cris against cancer has contributed to the development of the first Clinical Guide for the treatment of pain in children with cancer, which can be downloaded. This is a guide that has been distributed free of charge in all Spanish hospitals that have children's oncology and with specific content for parents and caregivers.
Here I leave a video prepared by the Cris against Cancer Foundation demanding our attention because we are all necessary:
