The Childhood Cancer Blog

The Childhood Cancer Blog

Welcome to The Childhood Cancer Blog
from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation!

For weeks, Lakelynn Markham complained about a “boo-boo” in her arm. The pain interrupted her sleep, but X-rays revealed nothing; her parents were stumped. The pediatrician suggested that 3-year-old Lakelynn was trying to avoid bedtime. 

But then Lakelynn stopped using her arm. 

Trusting their intuition, her parents took Lakelynn to an orthopedic specialist. This time the X-ray showed a tumor wrapped around the nerves of her right arm and shoulder. 

The diagnosis: a rare form of sarcoma. 

Sarcomas make up 15% of all childhood cancer diagnoses and arise from... Read More

  • Quincy was just 4 months old when he was diagnosed with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML), a rare type of leukemia that comes with a poor prognosis. 
  • Edie Gilger was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when she was just 6 months old. Nothing worked—chemotherapy, surgery and other treatments failed over and over again. 

Edie Gilger was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when she was just 6 months old. Nothing worked—chemotherapy, surgery and other treatments failed over and over again. 

Edie went through three relapses before the family found themselves at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

“My husband, Nick always tells people that without Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) and without the research you support, he would not have a family. And it’s true. My daughter Edie, me, my son Kinsey—none  of us would be here if it weren’t for ALSF,” said Emily, Edie’s Mom. Emily was diagnosed... Read More

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF)-funded researcher Dr. Leo Wang got his start in oncology research by studying acute myeloid leukemia. Now, he is taking his leukemia discoveries and translating that work into the study of immunotherapy as a treatment for brain tumors.  

During his initial research, funded by an ALSF Young Investigator Grant, Dr. Wang became fascinated by leukemia stem cells (LSCs) and their ability to resist chemotherapy. Dr. Wang hypothesized that these LSCs caused relapses, common in... Read More

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