Cancer Research

The local news ran a very heartwarming story last night.  A young girl, just under 10 years of age, passed away due to an incurable form of brain cancer, DIPG, which stands for Diffuse Intrinsic or Infiltrating Pontine Gliomas.  

The story caught my attention as I had referred the mother to a doctor in our area enrolling patients for a clinical trial on photodynamic therapy to remove inoperable brain tumors. We were too late.  There was nothing that could be done.

The family decided to bring their story to the public so others could participate before it's too late.

The devices used in the research were manufactured by Quantum Devices, Inc., Barneveld, WI.  We actually participated in the writing of the protocol for this clinical trial.  


Cari's story... http://www.nbc15.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5300728&flvUri=&partnerclipid=


A local family lost their daughter to a rare and aggressive brain tumor. Now, they are sharing their story, and a doctor says he may one day be able to cure the disease!

In June we spoke to Shannon, Jim and Cari Hadac at their Mt. Horeb home. Cari, Jim and Shannon's daughter was diagnosed with DIPG, which stands for Diffuse Intrinsic or Infiltrating Pontine Gliomas, in August of 2009.

DIPG is a very aggressive form of brain cancer, and once diagnosed a person typically lives about 6-months.
Jim says after they spoke with us, things took a turn for the worst.

"A switch was flipped and everything started changing," Jim says. The Hadac's were told Cari had 48-hours to live. Instead of taking her to the hospital, the Hadac's put Cari in their bed and held a vigil for their dying daughter. There were several close calls over the next few days.

"She had lots of last breaths. I think we went through the grieving process like 15 to 20 times," Shannon says.
Just days before her 10th birthday Cari passed away. "You go from carrying her out of the hospital when she's born," Jim says, "Six days before her tenth birthday to carrying her out to a funeral home."

Stuffed animals, photos, and the Happy Place which Cari helped build in front of her school in Mt. Horeb help Jim and Shannon get by.

But, what really drives them is the thought that one day soon there will be a cure. "That's what we have to live on and hoping that other families don't have to go through what we had to go through," Shannon say.

That day may be coming. Dr. Harry Whelan is a Neurology Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

For close to 25-years, Dr. Whelan has been looking for a way to treat children with DIPG. Traditional treatments haven't been effective. Dr. Whelan says it's because the tumor cells become so entangled with the regular brain cells that you end up killing all the cells with treatment.

"Any treatments strategies surgery, radiation and chemotherapy has the potential, particularly surgery and radiation if intense, of being equivalent to dynamiting by the power lines," Dr. Whelan says.
During his research, Dr. Whelan did have success with a process called photodynamic therapy.
During the treatment, a patient is given a special type of chemotherapy.

According to the doctor, the tumor cells absorb most of the chemo because they're "greedy." Doctors then insert an LED light that activates the chemo, kills the tumor and keeps the rest of the cells intact. "The light is like a switch that turns the therapy on," Dr. Whelan says. 

Since Dr. Whelan's research was published, Dr. Andrew Kay of Australia has been able to improve upon it.
According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 50 percent of Dr. Kay's patients were relapse free. Dr. Kay worked with adults and used a laser instead of an LED light.

Now, Dr. Whelan is working on getting a laser of his own to see if he can duplicate those results in children.
"If we can reproduce that here in adults and in children that might be a new source of hope," Dr. Whelan says.
Until the research is done, the Hadac's have a word of advice for parent's that may have a child suffering from DIPG. "Just spend as much time as you can," Jim says. 

The FDA has given Dr. Whelan and his team an investigational new drug number. They're the only ones in the country with an approval for this type of research. Now, they'll be able to do experimental therapy if they can get a patients permission. Dr. Whelan says the study should be completed in about three to five years.