New Hope for Challenging Childhood Cancer: The Potential of Cell and Gene Therapy - Children's National

In the last several decades, there have been great strides made in treating many childhood cancers. But for some of the toughest cases, there are few treatment options. Cell and gene therapy may provide one answer when a child's cancer can't be reached by surgery or medicine, comes back after these treatments or doesn't respond to the treatments at all.

In this episode of The Lead in Peds, Nathan Kuppermann, MD, MPH, speaks with Patrick Hanley, PhD, chief and director of the Cellular Therapy Program, and Holly Meany, MD, pediatric oncologist and director of the Solid Tumor Program. They lead the laboratory and clinical teams implementing cutting edge cell and gene therapy clinical trials that aim to revolutionize treatment for pediatric solid tumors and other challenging types of childhood cancer at Children's National.

Together, they discuss current work to target these innovative therapies to pediatric solid tumors and those that reside in the deepest reaches of the brain. They highlight the benefits of their unique partnership spanning both the laboratory and at the bedside. They credit their teams' spirit of collaboration as key to Children's National becoming a global leader in the manufacturing and application of these therapies for children who need them most. Their ultimate goal is to improve survival and quality of life for children with these conditions, first at Children's National, with clinical trial networks and the replication of proven cell manufacturing techniques extending the impact nationally and internationally..

Cell and gene therapies are already showing promise to transform pediatric oncology by creating personalized and targeted options that may be effective when the current trifecta of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy has failed. This episode explores where cell and gene therapy-based treatments for children with cancer stand today, where development is headed next and what the future may hold for these approaches.