Grant awarded to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
$2.5 million to develop new treatments for leukemia
LOS ANGELES - A cancer researcher at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles was awarded a $2.5 million grant to develop new treatments for leukemia in children.
Dr. Fatih Uckun of the CHLA's Saban Research Institute received the grant from the National Cancer Institute for development of drugs used to fight acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of cancer in children and adolescents, according to hospital spokeswoman Ellin Kavanagh.
Uckun and his colleagues focus on medicines that specifically target leukemia cells.
"Our long-term goal is to translate recent research discoveries in nanotechnology and biotherapy into effective patient-tailored treatment programs for the most common form of childhood cancer," said Uckun, who is also a professor of research pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
The work will be accomplished in tandem with other member institutions of the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer.
LOS ANGELES - Researchers at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles announced the identification of a mutated gene which plays a role in the development of B-precursor leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer.
The study was led by Dr. Fatih M. Uckun, leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at the Institute of Pediatric Clinical Research at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Academy's official journal.
Thousands of cancer survivors, research supporters, and friends and family of cancer victims are expected to take to the streets of Los Angeles on Saturday for the sixth Annual Brittiana “Smile for Life” 5-K walk/run. Beginning at 9 a.m. at the Kenneth Hahn Park & Trails, the event will honor Brittiana Henderson, who fell victim to cancer at age 13 on Jan. 31, 2007, and children who are fighting the deadly illness.
Brittiana succumbed to bone cancer and leukemia.
Foundation for Second Chances (FFSC) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 to make sure that children are being provided with the basic necessities, such as a quality education, the opportunity to flourish in a safe and nurturing environment, an opportunity to build self-confidence and self-esteem, and the ability to achieve.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The number of children aged 5 to 9 dropped by 21 percent in Los Angeles County over the past decade, making the county a major contributor to a statewide decline in the population of young children, according to a USC analysis of census data released today.
"We are ground zero of the 'missing children' of California,'' according to study co-author Dowell Myers, a USC professor of urban planning and demography.
Some men of African descent may have a higher genetic risk of developing prostate cancer, according to research conducted at the Keck School of Medicine.
The genome-wide association study, published in the journal Nature Genetics on May 22, determined a marker of risk for prostate cancer in men of African descent, who tend to more susceptible to prostate cancer than men of non-African descent. The research team was led by Christopher Haiman at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital, part of the Keck School.
