July 2019 - DIPG | The Marc Jr Foundation

Posted on July 29, 2019

Can Polio Be The Answer To DIPG Treatment?

“Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world,” said Louis Pasteur whose discoveries has saved the lives of many people.

Today, even though we are moving forward technologically at the speed of light, we still have a very long way to go. Finding a cure and researching better treatments for DIPG is the need of the hour. As many researchers and good-hearted Samaritans are doing their best to find a cure for DIPG, a team of scientists has found a new way to treat it in the study named, “Recombinant Attenuated Poliovirus Immunization Vectors Targeting H3.3 K27M in DIPG.”

A team of researchers at Duke University in North Carolina, led by Dr. David Ashley have developed an immunotherapy treatment that could be used in the future to treat DIPG. The study that began in 2017, targets the H3.3 K27M mutation in DIPG by modifying the poliovirus. This mutation is found in 80% of the DIPG tumors.

If successful, the scientists plan to use this treatment as a vaccine through injection into a muscle to trigger immune responses towards the mutant H3.3 K27M gene. This mutation is also present in other high-grade childhood tumors.

The efforts of these researchers were featured on two segments in CBS’ 60 Seconds. Dr. David Ashley who is the Director of Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumour Centre was awarded a research grant due to the combined efforts of ChadTough Foundation and Michael Mosier Defeat DIPG Foundation. More than 3 million dollars were required for researching this one method alone. Imagine the amount of money that would be required for multiple research methods and ultimately to find a cure for DIPG. Only through our joint, consistent efforts, we will be able to say goodbye to DIPG and give the gift of life to children.

Join Marc Jr Foundation’s efforts to raising awareness about DIPG and finding a cure for it.

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What Is Convection-Enhanced Delivery (CED)? How Does It Play A Role In The Treatment Of DIPG?

How To Make Your Child Feel Better While Facing DIPG?

Posted on July 1, 2019

When 40 Police Departments Surprised Emma, A 7-Year-Old Battling DIPG

“Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life.” – Jackie Chan

Sometimes our lives take unexpected turns, turns that we are not prepared for. In such times even a tiny bit of happiness gives us the strength to brave the storm. Kindness is the best form of medicine.

For Emma Mertens, a 7-year-old girl from Wisconsin who is battling DIPG, that happiness came in the form of 40 police officers and dogs.

In January this year, Emma was diagnosed with DIPG. Like a child unaware of what is happening to her, Emma was upset. There was something that would cheer Emma up and that was dogs. Her love for dogs was unparalleled. A friend of the family thought sending her a letter from her dog would cheer Emma up. She asked people through various social media platforms to send her photos and letters from their dogs and people from different corners of the world did their bit to make her happy.

But the K-9 officers from 40 police departments went a step ahead to make Emma smile. Surprised on seeing so many dogs and people – all just there for her, with some having driven for about three hours, Emma was overjoyed. These small acts of kindness helped Emma and her family get through the painful phase in their lives.

While the treatment of DIPG and our efforts to find a cure for it are important, what is also important is to lift a child’s spirits and make them smile. A simple act of kindness can go a long way in making the journey of battling DIPG a little easier for the children and their families.

This is just one story, Emma is just one of the faces of DIPG. There are many children out there who need a little bit of support and help. At Marc Jr Foundation, we have adopted a multi-fold approach to battle DIPG and one day, triumph over it. Are you with us?

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Sources (1,2,3)

Posted on July 1, 2019 July 1, 2019

What Is Convection-Enhanced Delivery (CED)? How Does It Play A Role In The Treatment Of DIPG?

DIPG is an aggressive and a hard to treat tumor that is present in the brain stem. As it has no definite boundaries, treating it is very difficult as there is a risk of damage to the surrounding brain cells. Radiation therapy has often been used as a form of treatment for DIPG as it temporarily shrinks the tumor, thereby reducing the pain. A more advanced form of treatment, known as Convection-Enhanced Delivery (CED) is shown to be more effective.

CED is when chemotherapy drugs are directly delivered to the tumor. It is a technique that has been gaining interest especially for tumors like DIPG that are in a hard to reach location and difficult to treat. CED can pass the blood-brain barrier (BBB) which the drugs that are ingested orally or taken intravenously cannot. The blood-brain barrier is the membrane that controls what drugs can pass from the brain to the brain.

Four catheters are implanted into the brain through surgery and through these catheters the drugs are released into the brain. One of the major benefits of CED is the decrease in the after-effects of radiotherapy such as nausea.

Convection-Enhanced Delivery, Treatment of DIPG — How CED Works | Photo: frontiesin.org

However, compared to radiotherapy, CED is expensive and often requires funding. Also, it is not widely available because of the problems in monitoring drug distribution but several clinical trials are underway for the same. For treatments like CED to gain momentum, more research needs to be carried out and there has to be an increased understanding of DIPG. When backed by sufficient resources, the clinical trials and the research can get impetus and be available as a treatment option for all soon.

Marc Jr Foundation is committed to finding a cure for DIPG. With your support, we can make it happen.

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Posted on July 1, 2019

This New Drug Could Become The First Ever Treatment Designed To Target DIPG

A shocking fact – for about two decades now no new drugs have been licensed to treat brain cancer in adults and children! But this new drug could change things and become the first drug designed to target DIPG.

The scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London have been working in a new drug that can kill cancer cells. Trials in mice have been successful and clinical trials in children are expected to begin in 2021.

Five years ago in 2014, the team of scientists at ICR discovered that in about 75% of DIPG tumors, the mutation of ACVR1 genes is present. This is what made them focused to research a drug that could target this gene and so, hopefully, be curative for DIPG. Teaming up with the Structural Genomics Consortium in Oxford, they created a new series of molecules to target ACVR1.

Thereafter, they tested 11 prototypes of the new drugs in the cancer cells that were grown in the laboratory and positive results were seen in two of the 11 prototypes. These prototypes not only killed the cancer cells but showed very little effect on the healthy cells in the brain. When tested on mice, it was shown to increase the survival rate by 25%. A new company M4K Pharma has taken this on as their first project to develop affordable drugs for diseases affecting children.

Understanding the biology of DIPG tumors has helped researchers develop new and effective drugs to make life better for those battling DIPG. More awareness about DIPG and its research can make it a thing of the past and give the gift of life to hundreds of children.

Marc Jr Foundation appeals you to join hands with us to bid adieu to DIPG and not to our children.

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