May 7, 2008 6:00 pm US/Eastern
Health: Battling Neuroblastoma
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Neuroblastoma is a cancer of the nerves. Typically diagnosed in very young children, survival rates are low. Doctors never knew what caused the disease until now, and that's bringing hope to doctors and Neuroblastoma patients.
Alex Scott was a little girl who thought about helping others. She sold lemonade to raise money for research during a difficult struggle with Neuroblastoma.
It's the same type of cancer that 23-year-old Anna O'Connor has been battling for six years.
"Of course I was devastated, I mean there's a lot of things to be really sad about. I mean I was losing my life," said Anna.
She's from Chicago and is being treated at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, a world leader in treating and researching Neuroblastoma.
Now Dr. John Maris and his team have made a major discovery, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. For the first time, they've established that it's a genetic disease.
"It ends up that it takes a perfect storm of genetic changes on chromosome six and other chromosomes for one individual to be more likely to develop the disease," said Dr. John Maris, Pediatric Oncologist at CHOP, and the lead researcher of the study.
"I'm just really excited to learn why I have Neuroblastoma," said Anna.
Using advanced technology, doctors analyzed the DNA of Neuroblastoma patients and found key changes in the sixth chromosome, the root cause of the disease.
"We can now begin to hone down and find therapies that are specific to Neuroblastoma," said Dr. Maris.
That would be targeted treatments that currently don't exist. And something Anna hopes could potentially save her life, and if not in time, the lives of other children battling the devastating disease.
"I really do hope they come up with a drug that can get rid of it. I really hope there's a less brutal way of curing children," said Anna, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy, but it hasn't stopped the progression of the disease.
She's been through radiation, surgeries, and several experimental treatments, but she's determined to fight it and says giving up isn't an option.
RELATED LINKS:
Neuroblastoma Information
Neuroblastoma Information
Children's Hospital of Phila. Neuroblastoma Info.
New England Journal of Medicine Study
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