We couldn’t wait to share this story about the impact that your support of Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation is making not just for kids with cancer in the U.S., but as far away as Kenya. Not only does it show how a simple test can literally save the lives of children, but also demonstrates the disparity of care between children with cancer in the U.S. and those in the developing world.
Nearly 10 million children live in western Kenya, and based on the incidence of leukemia, 250 children would be expected to develop leukemia there each year. However, Dr. Terry Vik of the University of Indiana School of Medicine and his team believe that many children are never diagnosed with leukemia because of the lack of proper diagnostic testing, and die without ever having a chance to receive curative therapy. Dr. Vik was awarded an ALSF Epidemiology Grant in which he proposed to increase the detection rate of leukemia by using a simple, widely available and standard procedure used to diagnose malaria. The project has only been underway for 8 months, and the results are pretty astounding – Dr. Vik recently sent us the update below:
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| Terry Vik, MD ALSF Epidemiology Grantee |
“Our epidemiology project in Kenya, funded by ALSF, to identify cases of leukemia, has been running for 8 months now. We have been collecting slides of blood, stained to detect malaria in children, for about 4 months so far. When I traveled to Eldoret, Kenya to participate in a childhood cancer conference in January, I met with our technician to train him to read those malaria slides for the possible presence of leukemia. Already in just reviewing the first 3,000 slides (of our planned 30,000) we have 5 cases that are highly suspicious for leukemia. The results are more striking than I had imagined. We are in the process of confirming those cases and will be collecting more cases in the coming year.
The project is already developing some ‘side effects.’ The lab staff of the small district hospital we are based in is already learning how to detect leukemia on their own by examining slides in real time. On our team's last visit, one of our Co-investigators, Dr. Skiles, was asked to see a young girl with low blood counts in the hospital ward. The girl had signs of leukemia, but the hospital didn't have the capability to do a bone marrow test to confirm the suspected leukemia diagnosis. Dr. Skiles bundled her and her mother up in the study vehicle they had used for the visit and brought her back to Eldoret, about 50 miles away, to complete the diagnostic workup and begin treatment for her leukemia! This is exactly the type of patient, we proposed in our study, who is lingering in a local hospital and eventually dying without a diagnosis. For this patient, the 'side effect' of this study made a huge difference -- she is now receiving treatment for ALL and is alive and doing great. The ALSF funds are allowing us to teach the Kenyans that leukemia exists and can be diagnosed and treated early, making a difference in these children's lives.”
Pretty amazing, right? This is what you’re helping to make possible through your support of ALSF. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
March 13, 2013
