TEFIN and the Pediatric Oncological Research
SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH IN PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY
Pediatric tumors are, still today, the leading cause of death from disease in children. Pediatric cancer (leukemia, lymphoma and solid tumours) affects 1 in every 650 children under 15 years of age. Every year in Italy about 1700 children fall ill with cancer or leukemia, about 5 children every day. Unfortunately, these numbers are growing slightly year after year. Some tumor pathologies, in the most common forms such as acute lymphatic leukemia, have a high chance of recovery thanks to the use of international chemotherapy protocols, the result of important research conducted over time on young patients.
RESEARCH therefore represents the key to improving the care of young patients. Investing in research means investing in the possibility of making the care of the little ones less invasive in order to reduce their hospitalization times and help them return to their lives as soon as possible. The latest studies focus on the so-called “personalized medicine” which aims to identify specific therapies for the individual patient based on the individual characteristics of his/her disease and the genetic alterations of the neoplastic cells. The goal is to identify and isolate cancer cells in order to be able to attack them in a specific way without affecting healthy cells as happens, however, in the classic cycles of chemotherapy.
For years, the SANTOBONO PAUSILIPON FOUNDATION has supported, through fundraising and disbursement activities, the development of scientific research within the AORN Santobono Pausilipon with the aim of offering increasingly cutting-edge treatments to the young patients of the pediatric hospital. The next investments will be for the setting up of new laboratories in which to experiment with new therapies that can give effective answers even to those patients who do not respond to classic therapies and who, without experimental protocols, would have no possibility of a cure. TEFIN is supporting this project and is committed to RESEARCH in the field.
