While pediatric cancer is rare, it is still the chief cause of death by disease in children between the ages of 1 and 14.
For more than 60 years, Dana-Farber and Children's Hospital Boston have worked together to provide the best care available for children with cancer, and have been responsible for dozens of advances in research and treatment that have directly resulted in the improved survival rates for virtually every variety of childhood cancer.
-
Dianna Marcellus — Young survivor puts the polish on an invention
Cancer and its treatment pose many obstacles in a young person's life. Yet, the power of imagination and intelligence can help to overcome such challenges. For one young survivor, technology presented such an opportunity. read more
-
Jenny — A young survivor fulfills big dreams
To see 11-year-old Jenny skate it's hard to imagine her parents were once told she might never walk normally again after she was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma when she was 3. read more
-
Lindsay Roache — Young cancer survivor chooses oncology nursing
When nursing student Lindsay Roache cares for teenagers with cancer at Children's Hospital Boston, she knows exactly how they feel. She's been there. "I came back to face the past," says the 22-year-old, who is going full circle from patient to caregiver. read more
-
Jordan Leandre — Bringing hope (and luck) to Fenway faithful, Red Sox
Boston Red Sox fans witnessed the power of perseverance and hope at Fenway Park on Monday night, even before their baseball team rallied for yet another unpredictable playoff victory. read more
-
Colleen Joyce — Testing my courage
Everyone faces adversity, notes high school freshman Colleen Joyce. She just happened to face it a little sooner than most. Diagnosed with ALL when she was 9, Joyce believes the two years she spent coping with chemotherapy and its side effects made her stronger and better prepared for the next obstacle that comes her way. read more
-
Ellen Rose O'Brien — How I got sick and got better
Diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was just five, Ellen Rose O'Brien wrote a book that year about her experiences as a patient at Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic and Children's Hospital Boston to help the young patients who would follow her. Ten years later, that book is still lending comfort and support to Jimmy Fund patients, and Ellen Rose, now 15, is a freshman in high school. read more
-
The Dodds — One family's story of hope
A couple years after their daughter, Isabelle, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, the Dodds remember how they hunkered down together, united in their common goal to preserve the spirit of life. read more
-
Uri Berenguer-Ramos — From the Institute to the airwaves
When Uri Berenguer-Ramos first came to Dana-Farber in November 1985 from his native Panama, neither he nor his mother, Daisy, could speak English. Three-year-old Uri was suffering from a tumor in his right leg, and doctors back home had told the family it would need to be amputated. Daisy Berenguer-Ramos insisted on a second opinion, so she and her son headed alone to America. Seventeen years later, the college sophomore is attending Northeastern University on a full scholarship, living his dream as a broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox, and enjoying his first full year free of cancer. read more
-
Catherine Lyons — A beacon of light to mark five healthy years
Festive lights atop Angel Island in San Francisco Bay are usually only seen during the year-end holiday season. But this past summer, for 15 magical minutes, a bright beacon lighting the sky delighted 9-year-old Catherine Lyons. She watched from a sailboat in the harbor with friends and family, including her mother, Mary Russell, father Dan Lyons, and 6-year-old brother, Will. The night represented a milestone for the Brookline, Mass., family, marking the fifth anniversary of the end of Catherine's treatment for neuroblastoma, an aggressive cancer that begins with a solid tumor in nerve tissue, then spreads throughout the body. read more
-
Andrew MacKinlay — Surviving ALL
After enduring two years of chemotherapy, 8-year-old Andrew MacKinley is ready for life without his port, school, little league, and that distant March day when he will make the three-point shot at the buzzer to win the NCAA championship. read more
-
Wayne Marasco — Dana-Farber doctor, Jimmy Fund dad
From the window of his laboratory at Dana-Farber, Wayne Marasco, MD, PhD, has a full view of the floors occupied by pediatric cancer patients at Children's Hospital Boston. This daily reminder of the importance of his work uncovering the mysteries of cancer and AIDS took on added meaning in July 2001, when he found himself gazing directly into a room occupied by his 4-year-old daughter, Madison. read more
