About The Aubrey Fund
The Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research began in 1997 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. It is named for Aubrey Barr, a woman who was treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia at Memorial Sloan-Kettering as a child, and was cured.
Raising Funds for Cancer Research
The primary source of support for The Aubrey Fund comes from Fred's Team, Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Marathon Program whose team members participate in marathons around the globe and have their runs sponsored by donors.
Since its inception just seven years ago, The Aubrey Fund has raised over $25 million for pediatric cancer research. These funds have helped to contribute to the dramatic advancements achieved by our researchers. Below are just a few examples:
Advancements in Research & Treatment
Leukemias
Today, 85 percent of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) will be cured, a striking improvement over the 0 to 10 percent cure rates of the 1960s and 50 percent cure rate of the 1980s. For patients who fail chemotherapy, T cell depleted transplants developed at the Center, have led to higher cure rates following related or unrelated transplants.
Brain Tumors
Our scientists and clinicians have developed advanced surgical techniques, improved chemotherapy, and a new sophisticated computer-guided technique called intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Clinical trials indicate that this new treatment allows safe delivery of much higher doses of radiation to a brain tumor while sparing the normal developing tissues of the child.
Neuroblastoma
The survival rate for children has improved from less than 10 percent to greater than 55 percent by optimal combination of chemotherapy plus monoclonal anti-bodies pioneered at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. New vaccine trials are in progress to bolster tumor immunity late after chemotherapy.
Sarcomas in Children
Osteogenic sarcoma, a bone tumor that is lethal for most children when treated with surgery alone, can now be cured 75 percent by intensive chemotherapy and surgical techniques pioneered at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
In Ewing's sarcoma, new treatments and targeted antibodies are improving detection of metastatic disease in children and increasing rates of extended remission or cure.
