 |
| Somasundaram Jayabose, M.D. |  | | | Why did I choose to become a pediatric oncologist? | | Why did we establish CCF ? | | | | Why did I choose to become a pediatric oncologist? |  When I was doing my residency in pediatrics in 1971-74, I
observed that most childhood infectious diseases were being cured by effective antibiotics;
congenital heart diseases were being corrected by modern open heart
surgery. However cancer, although rare in children, was the second
most common cause of death in children, second only to accidents and
trauma. Only 30% of children with acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia were
being cured. However, the 30% cure rate for ALL was a vast improvement
compared to 0% only a few years earlier. This improvement was due to
better anti-cancer drugs and improved methods in using them, especially
using combination of drugs. The prospect of being a part of the group
of physicians, who will one day cure all children with cancer, was
not only exciting, but also seemed to be the right thing to do.
| | Top | | | Why did we establish CCF ? | The clinical service for treating children with
cancer (Pediatric Oncology) at New York Medical College Westchester
Medical Center was started in 1980. During the next 12 years, we treated
hundreds of children with malignant disorders in the Hudson Valley
area, and established ourselves as a major center for the treatment of
childhood cancer in the greater New York area. The next natural course
of our growth was towards research in childhood cancer.
There are two kinds of research.
- Clinical trials to find the efficacy of a given treatment for a
specific type of cancer.
- Research in the basic science of oncology which will help us find answers
to many questions-
- How can we detect or track even small number of cancer cells ?
- How can we overcome the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic
drugs?
| | Top | | | | There are more than a hundred medical centers
across the country capable of treating childhood cancer. We, as most
other centers, have been participating in clinical trials through a
national organization called Children's Cancer Group (CCG) for more
than ten years. However, not as many centers are doing basic science-oriented
laboratory research in pediatric oncology. One of the main reasons for
this is non availability of funding. Most of the funding from National Cancer Institute
and other major national organizations are given to centers with well
established research programs with long experience. Therefore, to get
our center started in research, we needed to come up with our own
funds. This was the main reason for establishing our Children's
Cancer Fund (CCF) in December of 1992.
| | Top | |
|
