Texas Children’s Cancer Center has opened the first center dedicated entirely to the research, care, and treatment of children with lymphoma. The Fayez Sarofim Lymphoma Center at Texas Children’s Cancer Center was made possible by a gift of $10 million to Texas Children’s Hospital.
Lymphomas are the third most common cancers in childhood; chemotherapy is still the mainstay of lymphoma therapies, and it is sometimes supplemented by radiation. Despite much progress in this area, many patients with lymphoma do not respond to initial treatment, and a significant proportion of patients whose disease responds to available therapies will eventually develop drug resistance, requiring new therapies.
The Fayez Sarofim Lymphoma Center will focus on researching the biology of lymphomas to develop new approaches to therapy, including new diagnostic methods and targeted therapies. The Texas Children’s Cancer Center has a translational research infrastructure already in place, focusing on rapid translation of laboratory and clinical research into clinical studies.
“Our researchers have already developed effective cell-based therapies that have demonstrated extremely exciting clinical results, and we are also evaluating new chemotherapeutic agents with significant clinical promise,” said Catherine Bollard, MD, Director of the Fayez Sarofim Lymphoma Center. Potential advances made at the center will be shared with pediatric oncologists around the world.
Kenneth McClain, MD, Clinical Director of the new center, addressed the potential clinical benefits of the new endeavor, noting that this financial gift “will help expand the number of innovative therapies that will be available to treat our young patients. Our ultimate goal is to find a cure for all children with lymphoma.” Texas Children’s Hospital press release; June 26, 2012
