Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. The St. Baldrick's Foundation is proud to partner with the Children's Cancer Foundation and has been doing so since 2008. This grant has funded two projects. The first project is an extension of a previous grant. Researchers collect the tissues of all pediatric brain tumors in Hong Kong to review and perform special tests. The results will refine diagnoses and categorization, offers much better prognosis and more precise therapy. The second project is also an extension of a previous grant, building on the work showing that rituximab combined with chemotherapy improves survival rate in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This year's extension will study how adding bortezomib to rituximab and chemotherapy improves remission rates.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. This grant has funded two projects. The first project is an extension of a previous grant. It aims to accurately measure treatment response by identifying and counting residual leukemia cells in patients following treatment to avoid under-or over-treatment of the disease in the future. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a more cost-effective approach of MRD monitoring that helps avoid under- or over-treatment of childhood leukemia, while achieving a higher cure rate and long-term event-free survival. The second project is a pre-clinical investigation on the role of CD9 as an inhibitor of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia by regulating leukemia progression and chemosensitivity. If proven, the new CD9-targeting agents could be developed as an add-on to conventional chemotherapy for treatment of high-risk and relapsed pediatric AML.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. This grant has funded four projects. The first project is an extension of a previous grant. It aims to accurately measure treatment response by identifying and counting residual leukemia cells in patients following treatment to avoid under-or over-treatment of the disease in the future. The second project explores cardiac diseases and diseases of the circulatory system, these remain to be important causes of cumulative mortality in the long-term for child cancer patients after cancer therapy. These studies based on multi-modality evaluation of cardiac function, will give long-term monitoring and assessment of treatment-related cardiotoxicity in pediatric cancer survivors. The third project is a study to improve the cure rate of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The research also includes studying any impact of special genetic changes on the treatment outcome. The fourth project aims at investigating the prevalence of sexual and reproductive problems caused by childhood cancer treatment amongst local childhood cancer survivors by conducting questionnaires to assess various aspects, including sexual function, self-esteem and general well-being of a group of patients.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. This grant has funded four projects. The first project is an extension of a previous grant. It aims to accurately measure treatment response by identifying and counting residual leukemia cells in patients following treatment, as a result to avoid under-or over-treatment in the future. The second project explored palliative care needs. Palliative care plays an important role in improving symptom control and psychosocial care for pediatric cancer patients and their families. However, there are no international guidelines specifically made for pediatric palliative care (PPC), with the exception of pain management. A local study is thus needed to explore how PPC can be improved and to identify the essential skills, facilities and services needed in the provision of such care in Hong Kong hospitals and community settings. The third project is a study of a large inter-group randomized trial on whether rituximab
(antibody) can add benefit to the current chemotherapy regimen for children and adolescents with high risk B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The fourth project explored cardiac toxicity. Cardiac toxicity is one of the most concerning side effects of anti-cancer therapy. The gain in life expectancy obtained with anti-cancer therapy can be compromised by increased morbidity and mortality associated with its cardiac complications. The field of ‘pediatric cardo-oncology’ has emerged as an essential discipline to provide cardiac specialist care to pediatric cancer patients. In this project multi-modality evaluation on cardiac function is used to monitor the cardiac function of children after cancer therapy.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. One of the two projects funded by this grant is an extension of pervious grant and aims to accurately measure treatment response by counting residual leukemia cells in patients following treatment. The second project is an European clinical trial studying the effectiveness of using antibody treatment together with chemotherapy and surgery for patients with newly diagnosed neuroblastoma.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. One of the two projects funded by this grant establishes a centralized molecular genetic and chromosome analysis testing service for the diagnosis of pediatric solid tumor cancers. The second is an extension of previous grant and aims to accurately measure treatment response by counting residual leukemia cells in patients following treatment.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. The four projects funded by this grant have wide-ranging implications for the clinical and psychosocial treatment of childhood cancer patients in Hong Kong. Of the three clinical programs, two are directed at improving treatment for children with ALL. The first of these aims to accurately measure treatment response by identifying and counting residual leukemia cells to avoid under- or over-treatment. The second examines the role and behavior of the protein CD9, in reducing leukemia cells. The third clinical research project establishes a central registry for pediatric brain tumor patients. The fourth project investigates how a patients' level of hope and rumination style affects their psychological well-being and adjustment toward cancer treatment.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. The five projects funded by this grant will assist doctors in Hong Kong to develop stem cell treatment strategies for neuroblastoma, minimize long term lung complications in bone marrow transplant recipients, measure the role of genetic abnormalities in higher relapse rates for acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients, understand the effect of anti-cancer drugs on kidney function, and design surveillance strategies to minimize respiratory tract infection in the hospital setting among febrile children with cancer.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. The project supported by this grant is a multicenter clinical study testing the best treatment strategy for Chinese children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. It started from 2008 and completed at the end of 2012. All the hospitals treating children with cancer in Hong Kong participated in this study, and 12 other centers in mainland China also joined the study. They performed a special test on the patients to find any residual leukemia cells in the body after initial chemotherapy treatment in the first 3 months of treatment. The special tests included “flow cytometry for leukemia specific antigen’ and “Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction for leukemia DNA”.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. The project supported by this grant is a multicenter clinical study testing the best treatment strategy for Chinese children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. It started from 2008 and completed at the end of 2012. All the hospitals treating children with cancer in Hong Kong participated in this study, and 12 other centers in mainland China also joined the study. They performed a special test on the patients to find any residual leukemia cells in the body after initial chemotherapy treatment in the first 3 months of treatment. The special tests included “flow cytometry for leukemia specific antigen’ and “Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction for leukemia DNA”.

Through this partnership with the Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's head-shaving events in Hong Kong support life-saving childhood cancer research in Hong Kong. The St. Baldrick's Foundation is proud to partner with the Children's Cancer Foundation and has been doing so since 2008.