Feature: Kids Beating Cancer Hosts “A Night with the Stars” at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills
Deepa Bhojwani, Chris Gearity, Yong-mi Kim
Kids Beating Cancer hosted “A Night with the Stars” cocktail fundraiser on Thursday, November 14, 2024, at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. The evening brought together supporters, philanthropists, and special guests to raise funds for pioneering leukemia research funded by Kids Beating Cancer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). The fundraiser provided attendees an opportunity to directly support the research project Kids Beating Cancer is championing, with all proceeds going toward advancing innovative treatment solutions for pediatric leukemia patients in the Los Angeles area.
Sam Azar, Margaret Guedes, and John Ritter
“Kids Beating Cancer continues to look to the future, investing in the development of improved methods to treat children diagnosed with cancer more safely, effectively and with fewer side effects. Through our partnership with CHLA, we are focused on advancing the most significant breakthroughs in the treatment of pediatric cancers that will offer the best hope of a cure to children worldwide,” said Margaret Guedes, CEO, President and Founder of Kids Beating Cancer
Recent advancements in immunotherapy, including revolutionary treatments like CAR T-cell therapy, offer new hope to children battling leukemia. Despite these breakthroughs, some forms of leukemia persist, continuing to return even after bone marrow transplants and other intensive treatments. Kids Beating Cancer’s latest research initiative with CHLA is inspired by advancements in the treatment of a similar form of leukemia found in older adults, multiple myeloma. Since 2015, patients with this disease have been treated with a specific antibody that binds to a protein called CD38. Leukemia cells coated with the antibody are flagged for killing by specialized immune cells such as natural killer cells, macrophages, and neutrophils. T-cells, another type of immune cells, have not been involved in this approach. Researchers have now developed a novel antibody that pulls many subsets of T-cells together with adult acute myeloid leukemia cells through CD38. Preliminary studies completed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells provide hope that this antibody can be used to kill a variety of pediatric leukemia cells including those from patients who did not respond to other treatments. Kids Beating Cancer’s project seeks to further investigate the impact of this antibody and provide robust evidence for its success with the most challenging forms of pediatric leukemia. GR8T
PHOTOS: Courtesy of BFA
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