2006/07 ann ual report - Kids Cancer Care

esearch
S ome childhood cancers such as metastatic
solid tumors, malignant brain tumours and other
recurrent cancers continue to evade medical
understanding.
to be cancer-free
Above left: (Tere Mahoney Photography) and right:
(Don Molyneaux) Thanks to your support, Alberta
researchers are moving us closer to a cure every day.
Opposite right: Research gives hope to hundreds of
Alberta kids like Rylan (photo by Don Molyneaux).
6
Laying the foundation for tomorrow’s
breakthroughs
If not for research, Paddon
Thompson might not be alive today.
Diagnosed with a malignant brain
tumour at age 12, Paddon is the
reason behind his family’s major
donation to the Kids Cancer Care
Foundation of Alberta.
It took seven years, two major
surgeries, many courses of
chemotherapy and radiation but
Paddon is cancer-free today. He
is now studying engineering at
Queen’s University in Kingston,
Ontario.
“My son is a miracle child,” says
Joni Hughes, a Calgary lawyer and
KCCFA board member. “Twentyfive
years ago the tumour at the
centre of his brain would have been
inoperable but because of advances
in medical research, Paddon is now
cancer-free.”
Paddon’s grandparents, William
and Jean Hughes, want to ensure
other families will not have to
experience what theirs did, so
they gave $750,000 to KCCFA’s
We Believe campaign to help build
the new Hughes Children’s Cancer
Research Centre (HCCRC) at
the University of Calgary. With
the help of the Hughes family and
other generous Calgarians, KCCFA
contributed $1.5 million toward
the new centre, currently under
construction.
Equipped with state-of-the-art
technology, the HCCRC will house
cancer researchers and doctors
who will work collaboratively to
investigate the molecular makeup
of cancers with low survival rates.
The hope is that one day their
research will lead to more targeted,
less invasive treatments that will
minimize the short- and long-term
side effects of cancer treatments
and save children’s lives.