More than 15,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. Cancer research dollars focus on adult populations, but the disease affects young patients differently than adults and much longer survivorship windows need to be considered. Pediatric cancer research is essential for developing effective treatments specifically for kids and teens – and for helping them enjoy quality of life across the decades that follow.

UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s and the Angie Fowler Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Institute are proud to announce $400,000 in support for pediatric cancer research from Hyundai Hope on Wheels.

The funding, given across two grants, will advance innovative research aiming to improve treatment and long-term outcomes for children with cancer.

Pediatric oncologist Nikki Agarwal, MD, has been awarded a $300,000 Young Investigator Grant to research the link between young cancer survivorship and later metabolic health problems. Dr. Agarwal is studying two proteins, FABP4 and FABP5, to see if targeting them can prevent the lasting side effects survivors face.

A $100,000 impact grant for a one-year project targeting neuroblastoma, the most common cancer outside the brain in children, was awarded to John Letterio, MD, Director, UH Angie Fowler Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Institute; Division Chief, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and UH Cleveland Medical Center; and the Jane and Lee Seidman Chair in Pediatric Cancer Innovation.

Neuroblastoma accounts for roughly 15 percent of pediatric cancer deaths, and more than half of children with the high-risk version of the disease relapse despite aggressive treatment. Dr. Letterio’s project aims to block a key pathway that helps tumors survive treatment, creating a new, more targeted combination therapy for the most treatment-resistant cases.

Since 1998, Hyundai Hope on Wheels has given more than $303 million to childhood cancer research. UH has been on the receiving end of over $4.3 million dollars.

Because of efforts like Hyundai Hope on Wheels, young patients will benefit from research advancing a future where every child can survive and thrive beyond cancer.