Who we are and why we’re swimming:

We are excited about the Open Houston Swim event because it is an opportunity for our Children’s Cancer Hospital team of medical oncologist, intensivists, clinicians, scientists, and administrative employees to have fun, but also because it offers our partners in the community the opportunity to help raise money to support research for challenging pediatric neuro-oncologic diseases. 

Cancer in children is rare, but it is the leading cause of death by disease from birth to age 19. Brain cancer is the second common type of cancer in kids. Surgery is not always possible, nor the best idea, and the blood-brain barrier makes it difficult for safe levels of chemotherapy to reach its target. This means we need more options for therapies and therapy delivery.

What MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital offers:

At MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital, we offer unique and novel clinical trials for our patients with brain tumors. More than 100 brain tumors in children are seen annually in our program at the Children's Cancer Hospital at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Nearly half of these are recurrent and relapsed tumors for which no defined therapy exists and remain a major cause of therapeutic frustration. Thus, a major area of focus is to better understand the biology of these elusive tumors and be able to develop therapies to find a cure or meaningful increase in survival for these patients.

 Our program of neuro-oncology has established a strong collaboration with basic research scientists and embarks on two major translational research endeavors. These include the profiling of novel targeted therapy clinical trials in refractory brain tumors using preclinical data of the tumor biology and immunotherapeutic approaches in these tumors. These include designing specific immunotherapy trials using CAR T cells and NK cells to target glioblastoma and DIPG, two of the most aggressive brain tumors in children. We also offer a pharmaceutical company-initiated trial for newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and recurrent/refractory disease, as well as the complexities of DIPG with more challenging mutations.

How you can help:

Please support us by joining our team, volunteering for the event, or sponsoring our swim and making a generous gift. Donations will support pediatric and adult brain tumor research at MD Anderson.

Thank you for your support of our efforts and we hope to see you on the open water Oct. 5, 2024. You can make a credit card donation by clicking on one of the members of our team below, or send a check to Swim Across America, but please include a note mentioning our team!

Swim Across America

11600 N. Community House Rd., Suite 100

Charlotte, NC 28277