May 2024
Beating Pediatric Low-Grade Glioma | Thyroid Cancer's New Foe | The Healing Power of Dance | Breathwork Works! | An Every Day Hero | Nature Therapy
During the month of May, I’ve been tracking news about childhood cancer in search of stories that can benefit you: the ones battling childhood cancer and its aftermath with all your might. What I’ve found, and what I’ve curated for you in this newsletter, are reports of promise, progress and personal experiences - with a dash of fun on the side. Because here at Sam Day Foundation, our mission is to Dream Big, Laugh Often and Live Well.
Wishing you wellness, Kate
A New Weapon Against Pediatric Low-Grade Glioma
As Lorna recently told me: “this is a big deal.”
In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first and only type II RAF inhibitor for the treatment of patients 6 months of age and older with relapsed or refractory pLGG harboring a BRAF fusion or rearrangement, or BRAF V600 mutation. For parents, patients and oncologists, the FDA’s approval of Day One Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.’s drug, OJEMDA (tovorafenib), is a dream realized. Hallelujah!
Your support works! Sam Day Foundation hosted Samuel C. Blackman, MD, PhD | Founder and Head of Research & Development at Day One Biopharmeceuticals for Doernbecher Pediatric Grand Rounds last September as part of the Sam Day Endowed Lectureship in Pediatric Oncology.
Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Also Got a New Foe
And in other treatment breakthrough news: The FDA has granted accelerated approval to Retevmo (selpercatinib) for the treatment of pediatric patients 2 years of age and older with:
Advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) with a rearranged during transfection (RET) mutation
Advanced or metastatic thyroid cancer with a RET gene fusion who require systemic therapy and who are radioactive iodine-refractory - and
Locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors with a RET gene fusion that have progressed on or following prior systemic treatment or who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.
Retevmo is currently available as a capsule in 40mg and 80mg dosage strengths and a new tablet has also been approved in 40mg, 80mg, 120mg, and 160mg dosage strengths.
Jazz Hands for Dance!
My background includes cheer, dance team and yes…Jazzercise. Suffice it to say, it’s hard for me to sit still in a room where good music is playing. Which is why I love this new study’s findings described in an article published in American Society of Clinical Oncology Post about the therapeutic benefits of dance therapy for childhood cancer patients and their caregivers. The findings suggest that dance/movement therapy supports pediatric cancer patients by enhancing their hospital experience, boosting their self-efficacy, and managing their symptoms. As this newsletter has often reported, exercise is essential for controlling childhood cancer. I hope that this study and other well-designed and rigorous studies will lead to bringing dance/movement therapy to pediatric cancer patients both during and after treatment. I’m all for dance becoming more integrated into the standard of care for pediatric patients and their families.
Just…Breathe…
From our first breath as newborns, our lungs pump with life force…until we take our very last breath. For children fighting cancer, the basic act of breathing can become intensely difficult. But learning how to turn breath into therapy can have healthy benefits. The term for this practice is: breathwork. It makes common sense - breath brings oxygen into the body so that you can thrive. When you are physically or emotionally stressed, your breathing is affected. Breathwork helps to calm your stress and bring balance to your body. And there is valid data: A 2012 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that yoga breathing for cancer patients resulted in better quality of life outcomes. Using our lungs to their full potential can improve sleep disturbance, lessen anxiety, and improve mental health.
Katie Allender, RN is a Holistic Nurse Coach + Breathwork Guide who offers remote Sam Day Breathwork Sessions via Zoom. Katie’s next session is Thursday, June 13 @ 6:30pm(PT).
Katie says: As a coach + breathwork guide, I get to heal beyond the bandaid. Heal from the root and transform you into your greatest gift, YOU! I am here to hold space for the emotion, bravery, messiness and celebrations.
Life Imitating Art
While curating news articles for this issue of Sam Day News & Wellness, I came across a local news report that hit close to home. On May 10th, KATU’s Wesleigh Ogle reported a story in her “Everyday Heroes” series about my daughter whose two relapses of osteosarcoma this year did not hold her back from doing what she loves most: singing and performing on stage. Her high school theater director cast her as the lead female role, ‘Annabeth’ in the musical “Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief,” earning him an Everyday Hero story.
Each month, I find dozens of inspiring childhood cancer warrior stories. This one happens to be a story I know all too well: As ‘Annabeth’ fought monsters on stage, my daughter was fighting cancer behind the scenes.
Call It What You Want: It’s Nature Therapy!
Mother Nature really, truly does have healing power.
Lorna recently pointed me to Newport Academy, a network of teen mental health and substance abuse treatment centers, because their Nature Therapy program caught her attention. Nature therapy, or nature-based interventions (NBI), have been shown to have positive effects on physical, psychological, social, and spiritual health - according to a 2023 article published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. When applied to childhood cancer patients, the benefits can be great: “NBIs have good efficacy in mitigating the negative consequences and sequela of cancer treatment and survivorship.” Or, as Newport Academy describes it: Nature Therapy can reduce stress, depression and anxiety, improve immune function and provide hopefulness by impacting serotonin levels.
Breathe! Move your body the best you can...it might be a shuffle, a wiggling of the fingers...as we know our kids have faced the hardest thing and sometimes just waking up for the day and taking pills was all they could muster. I celebrate Sabina and her courage to sing and share her beautiful gift on stage. Joshua also insisted on going right back to school after surgery. Our kids are heroes-we applaud them!