Dear Pine Tree Players, Sponsors, Volunteers, Supporters and Honored Guests,
You are amazing! Your support continues to make cancer research happen at Children’s Minnesota, improving outcomes for kids and families here in
Minnesota and around the world.
We’re excited to tell you about the amazing progress that has happened since last year’s Pine Tree event! The International PPB/DICER1 Registry has continued to work with children and families across the U.S. and around the world including more than 600 institutions in 60 countries around the world. This worldwide effort is based here in the Twin Cities, at Children’s Minnesota, thanks to you!
We continue to collect medical data and tumor samples, and test conventional, novel and holistic medications against these tumors, searching for the most effective and least toxic therapies. The protocol we brought forward last year to work with Children’s Oncology Group to develop a prospective treatment trial for children with lung cancer continues to advance.
Some of our current research focuses on validating new ways of monitoring treatment response and detecting minimal amounts of residual disease for DICER1-related cancers. Our team is working hard on this endeavor and has collected more than 1200 samples from across the globe for this research. We hope this new blood-based strategy will reduce the number of times a child must be sedated and exposed to radiation in order to understand their tumor’s response to treatment and is the next critical step in our efforts to find all of these cancers in their earliest and most curable forms.
We also are learning more each year about additional tumors linked to DICER1, a distinct group of tumors including childhood lung and kidney cancers and thyroid, ovarian and brain cancers in children and adults.
In the last year, we published data from the largest ever cohort of girls and young women with Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor, a rare type of ovarian cancer. Importantly, we continue to share this information, not only through scientific publications, but also directly with people who need it most - treating teams and families. In the last month, we’ve also submitted new DICER1 surveillance guidelines for publication, highlighting the many cancers found early thanks to this research as well as providing updated recommendations to facilitate early diagnosis. We’ve given presentations at scientific meetings and Grand Rounds, and hosted an international scientific symposium with scientists, treating physicians and researchers from around the world and a smaller laboratory consortium retreat, bringing together a smaller group of dedicated laboratory scientists to strategize the best efficient laboratory approaches. This year’s Symposium, the Registry’s 7th annual scientific conference, brought together more than 150 clinicians and researchers worldwide, including attendees from U.S., Canada, Peru, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, Czech Republic, Israel, Pakistan and Oman, highlighting the worldwide impact of Registry research.
Additionally, on August 1, 2024, deliberately in conjunction with the Pine Tree Apple Tennis Classic event that makes this work possible, we are bringing together patients and families for our ninth Registry family meeting. Our goal continues to be strengthening our collaborations so that we can spread the word about how to care for kids and adults with DICER1-related conditions and learn more - a true win-win for everyone. Along the way, we meet many families whose world has just been turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis. Like you, they look ahead, to see how their own journey could help someone else. For them, and for you, we are forever grateful. Children who undergo treatment for cancer deserve to not only survive their disease, but also to thrive both during and after treatment. Research funded by Pine Tree Apple Classic Fund supports both of these critical goals. In the supportive care research arena, Lynn Tanner PT, Laura Gilchrist PT, PhD, and the rehabilitation team have worked to improve physical function in children both during and after cancer treatment. Work on measuring and treating chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy continues, with ongoing trials of bracing to improve outcomes and development of a measure for very young children. We are also working to understand the impact of neuropathy on swallowing function with our speech language pathologist, Leah Podergois, and partners in Texas as this impacts a child’s ability to eat and avoid pneumonia during cancer treatment. This year we shared results showing the successful long-term impact (8 years after treatment completed) of physical therapy services during cancer treatment; results of efforts supported by Pine Tree since 2004. We also presented our first research examining neuropathy in children with brain tumors at an international conference. Finally, to improve our rehabilitation services, we published work on the understanding of factors that families report impacts their ability to engage in rehabilitation. This will help our rehabilitation professionals support families in all the hard work they do.
This next year, we are embarking on a study examining what is normal for different ages of children on a common strength and mobility test, the 30-second chair stand test. This understanding will allow us to use the test to better understand the strength of our children during cancer treatment and the impact of our therapy services. You will see us at the Pine Tree Apple Tennis Classic Tournament testing children without cancer as part of this study! We will also continue our collaboration with St. Catherine University, striving to understand the long-term impacts of cancer and its treatments, including its influence on muscle fatigue and balance control. All of these efforts will help us reach our long-term goal of healthy and high functioning childhood cancer survivors who have minimal long-term impact from their disease.
Our educational offerings are expanding in cancer rehabilitation as we share our research and clinical knowledge through team-based educational courses. Again this year, we had international audiences composed of therapists, physicians, nurse practitioners, and researchers, learning how to improve the lives of children with cancer using rehabilitation.
All of these discoveries were made possible through your hard work and generosity. Advances in childhood cancer research are being made, but there are miles to go before we rest. More than 10,000 children under the age of 15 are diagnosed with cancer each year, and despite major treatment advances, 20% of children with cancer will not survive. Children with advanced solid tumors, especially rare tumors, still face poor prognoses and side effects of intensive therapies. More research is urgently needed to cure more children and improve quality of life for cancer survivors. We believe all children deserve the same chance of survival and long-term happiness.
Thank you for your support of this tournament which allows us to pursue this research. Generous support from PTACF is a significant part of the funding we rely upon to do this work. None of the tremendous advances in PPB/DICER1 and chemotherapy-related neuropathy would have occurred without you. We value and appreciate the support you provide to children and families across the country and around the world. As we reflect on our shared successes and challenges, we are grateful for the contributions of so many individuals who made this possible. At the same time, the beloved children who were diagnosed with late-stage cancers or died despite the best available care teach us that we have a long way to go. We’re grateful for the opportunity to continue this work in their honor and with your support.
With gratitude,
Kris Ann Schultz, MD, Yoav Messinger, MD, Lynn Tanner, PT, PhD, Laura Gilchrist PT, PhD, Anne Harris, MPH, Paige Mallinger, MS, Nicole Frederickson, CRA, Anna Dybvik, CRA, Melissa Abraham CRA and Alexander Nelson, BS, Monica Olsen, PT, DPT, Amy Meyer, PT, DPT, Jill Richards, PT, DPT, and Christine Hajduk, CRA
You are amazing! Your support continues to make cancer research happen at Children’s Minnesota, improving outcomes for kids and families here in
Minnesota and around the world.
We’re excited to tell you about the amazing progress that has happened since last year’s Pine Tree event! The International PPB/DICER1 Registry has continued to work with children and families across the U.S. and around the world including more than 600 institutions in 60 countries around the world. This worldwide effort is based here in the Twin Cities, at Children’s Minnesota, thanks to you!
We continue to collect medical data and tumor samples, and test conventional, novel and holistic medications against these tumors, searching for the most effective and least toxic therapies. The protocol we brought forward last year to work with Children’s Oncology Group to develop a prospective treatment trial for children with lung cancer continues to advance.
Some of our current research focuses on validating new ways of monitoring treatment response and detecting minimal amounts of residual disease for DICER1-related cancers. Our team is working hard on this endeavor and has collected more than 1200 samples from across the globe for this research. We hope this new blood-based strategy will reduce the number of times a child must be sedated and exposed to radiation in order to understand their tumor’s response to treatment and is the next critical step in our efforts to find all of these cancers in their earliest and most curable forms.
We also are learning more each year about additional tumors linked to DICER1, a distinct group of tumors including childhood lung and kidney cancers and thyroid, ovarian and brain cancers in children and adults.
In the last year, we published data from the largest ever cohort of girls and young women with Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor, a rare type of ovarian cancer. Importantly, we continue to share this information, not only through scientific publications, but also directly with people who need it most - treating teams and families. In the last month, we’ve also submitted new DICER1 surveillance guidelines for publication, highlighting the many cancers found early thanks to this research as well as providing updated recommendations to facilitate early diagnosis. We’ve given presentations at scientific meetings and Grand Rounds, and hosted an international scientific symposium with scientists, treating physicians and researchers from around the world and a smaller laboratory consortium retreat, bringing together a smaller group of dedicated laboratory scientists to strategize the best efficient laboratory approaches. This year’s Symposium, the Registry’s 7th annual scientific conference, brought together more than 150 clinicians and researchers worldwide, including attendees from U.S., Canada, Peru, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, Czech Republic, Israel, Pakistan and Oman, highlighting the worldwide impact of Registry research.
Additionally, on August 1, 2024, deliberately in conjunction with the Pine Tree Apple Tennis Classic event that makes this work possible, we are bringing together patients and families for our ninth Registry family meeting. Our goal continues to be strengthening our collaborations so that we can spread the word about how to care for kids and adults with DICER1-related conditions and learn more - a true win-win for everyone. Along the way, we meet many families whose world has just been turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis. Like you, they look ahead, to see how their own journey could help someone else. For them, and for you, we are forever grateful. Children who undergo treatment for cancer deserve to not only survive their disease, but also to thrive both during and after treatment. Research funded by Pine Tree Apple Classic Fund supports both of these critical goals. In the supportive care research arena, Lynn Tanner PT, Laura Gilchrist PT, PhD, and the rehabilitation team have worked to improve physical function in children both during and after cancer treatment. Work on measuring and treating chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy continues, with ongoing trials of bracing to improve outcomes and development of a measure for very young children. We are also working to understand the impact of neuropathy on swallowing function with our speech language pathologist, Leah Podergois, and partners in Texas as this impacts a child’s ability to eat and avoid pneumonia during cancer treatment. This year we shared results showing the successful long-term impact (8 years after treatment completed) of physical therapy services during cancer treatment; results of efforts supported by Pine Tree since 2004. We also presented our first research examining neuropathy in children with brain tumors at an international conference. Finally, to improve our rehabilitation services, we published work on the understanding of factors that families report impacts their ability to engage in rehabilitation. This will help our rehabilitation professionals support families in all the hard work they do.
This next year, we are embarking on a study examining what is normal for different ages of children on a common strength and mobility test, the 30-second chair stand test. This understanding will allow us to use the test to better understand the strength of our children during cancer treatment and the impact of our therapy services. You will see us at the Pine Tree Apple Tennis Classic Tournament testing children without cancer as part of this study! We will also continue our collaboration with St. Catherine University, striving to understand the long-term impacts of cancer and its treatments, including its influence on muscle fatigue and balance control. All of these efforts will help us reach our long-term goal of healthy and high functioning childhood cancer survivors who have minimal long-term impact from their disease.
Our educational offerings are expanding in cancer rehabilitation as we share our research and clinical knowledge through team-based educational courses. Again this year, we had international audiences composed of therapists, physicians, nurse practitioners, and researchers, learning how to improve the lives of children with cancer using rehabilitation.
All of these discoveries were made possible through your hard work and generosity. Advances in childhood cancer research are being made, but there are miles to go before we rest. More than 10,000 children under the age of 15 are diagnosed with cancer each year, and despite major treatment advances, 20% of children with cancer will not survive. Children with advanced solid tumors, especially rare tumors, still face poor prognoses and side effects of intensive therapies. More research is urgently needed to cure more children and improve quality of life for cancer survivors. We believe all children deserve the same chance of survival and long-term happiness.
Thank you for your support of this tournament which allows us to pursue this research. Generous support from PTACF is a significant part of the funding we rely upon to do this work. None of the tremendous advances in PPB/DICER1 and chemotherapy-related neuropathy would have occurred without you. We value and appreciate the support you provide to children and families across the country and around the world. As we reflect on our shared successes and challenges, we are grateful for the contributions of so many individuals who made this possible. At the same time, the beloved children who were diagnosed with late-stage cancers or died despite the best available care teach us that we have a long way to go. We’re grateful for the opportunity to continue this work in their honor and with your support.
With gratitude,
Kris Ann Schultz, MD, Yoav Messinger, MD, Lynn Tanner, PT, PhD, Laura Gilchrist PT, PhD, Anne Harris, MPH, Paige Mallinger, MS, Nicole Frederickson, CRA, Anna Dybvik, CRA, Melissa Abraham CRA and Alexander Nelson, BS, Monica Olsen, PT, DPT, Amy Meyer, PT, DPT, Jill Richards, PT, DPT, and Christine Hajduk, CRA