Victoria
Victoria, three-and-a-half years old at the time, had complained of a stomach ache the week before. Because she appeared fine, Victoria's mother, Pamela, let Victoria go to school. The following weekend, Victoria went to a friend's birthday party at a children's play center, where she joined the other kids playing on the slides and in the jumping pits. Later that night, she woke crying, complaining of another stomach ache. When the pain was still present on Monday morning, Pamela assumed it was probably a stomach virus. "Because you never in your wildest dreams imagine it's going to be cancer," she says.
Dr. LaQuaglia
When Victoria arrived at Memorial Sloan-Kettering for her surgery, her tumor, which had originated in the kidney, had already invaded her diaphragm and the right lobe of her liver. Fortunately for Victoria, Pediatric Surgical Service Chief Michael P. LaQuaglia and his team have unmatched experience with the complicated surgery that was required.
Dr. Steinherz
For more than 30 years, pediatric oncologist Peter G. Steinherz has been helping children like Victoria overcome cancer. His research efforts have focussed on the biology of Wilms' tumor, using these insights to develop new therapies that improve the long-term survival of patients with this cancer.
