The Cancer Center joined in at an annual event hosted by the Children’s Hospital University of Illinois, part of UI Health, that raises money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. The February 17 event where doctors, nurses, patients, families and community members volunteered to have their heads shaved raised more than $9,700 in support of childhood cancer research.
Over the last 15 years, the children’s hospital and its clinical trials group have received more than $2.1 million from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Thanks to the funding, the group, called the UIC/Rush/Stroger COG Program and managed by the Cancer Center’s Clinical Trials Office, currently can place patients in approximately 35 open clinical trials. These trials include front-line treatment for many types of childhood cancers, studies to determine the underlying biology of these diseases, and trials on new and emerging treatments, supportive care and survivorship.