A HEARTFELT THANK YOU!
We are overwhelmed by the response we have received to the Easter appeal for donations. Over 20,000 euros have been received on our donation account so far.
This wonderful response from so many people helps us to continue to do everything we can to ensure that one day all children and young people with cancer will have a chance for a cure and a long, good life.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
On 6 December 2020, mulled wine, hot cider and organic juice, as well as lard bread and goose fat, were served at the Nidda-Kampfbahn restaurant for a good cause. The demand was so great that Mary Massieu, accompanied by a moose and reindeer, was able to bring us a proud 600 euros donation for our foundation.
We would like to thank all the people who supported this campaign. Another big thank you goes to the landlord Holger Hauke, who made this amount possible with his top-up, and to Mary Massieu, who always organises great fundraising events for us.
We were delighted to welcome Nicole Pilsel and Marina Schloßnagel from the Frankfurt roofing company Hans Jürgen Meseth GmbH to our research house on 9 December 2020. Not only did they show great interest in the important research work at the Dr. Petra Joh-Haus, but they also had a donation of 2,500 euros in their luggage.
With this year’s Christmas fundraising campaign, Meseth GmbH wanted to support an organisation in Frankfurt that helps children and young people. They came across the Frankfurt Foundation for Children with Cancer on the internet and it was immediately clear: “That’s where our donation should go”.
We sincerely thank them for this great support.
For the third time, our board member Rudolf Starck was able to receive a generous donation from Sven Mattis, owner of the company WCP, on 20 November 2020. With 10,000 euros, WCP GmbH is once again supporting the research and work of the Frankfurt Foundation for Children with Cancer. On behalf of the young patients and their families, we would like to thank Sven Mattis and his team for this wonderful and important support.
We were very pleased to receive a letter from the WCP team after the donation:
“The WCP team would like to thank you very much for the beautiful and colourful picture that was presented to us by Mr. Rudolf Starck.
After an extraordinary year full of challenges and extreme events, we became aware once again that health cannot be taken for granted. Especially in difficult times – which often also have a negative financial impact – we want to think of our fellow men who find themselves in even more difficult situations.
WCP GmbH would therefore like to support the research and work of the organisation with this year’s donation to the “Frankfurt Foundation for Children with Cancer”.”
Many thanks for these beneficial lines.
Prof. Jindrich Cinatl, Dr. Constanze Schneider, Dr. Jürgen Vogt
As part of the ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the Frankfurt Foundation for Children with Cancer in November 2019, Dr. Constanze Schneider was awarded the Maresch-Klingelhöffer Prize.
The prize has been awarded since 2008. It has its origin in an endowment by the couple Dr. Otto Maresch and Doris Maresch-Klingehöffer. The prize, endowed with 10,000 euros, honours the best scientific work of young scientists in paediatric cancer research and related fields.
Dr. Constanze Schneider received the award for her scientific paper: “SAMHD1 is a biomarker for cytarabine response and a therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukaemia”, which was published in the journal “Nature Medicine”.
Until now, it has not been possible to predict which patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) would respond to the standard chemotherapeutic agent Cytarabine. With SAMHD1- a new biomarker was discovered that can be used to identify patients who respond to chemotherapy with a high degree of accuracy.
The “Niddastrand” in Frankfurt-Nied ended this year’s season with an event on 4 October 2020.
The head of the town Susanne Serke and her husband, the two Eintracht legends Kumljenovic and Skela, Frank Rusko from the Stadtmission Frankfurt-Nied and the restaurant Niddakampfbahn provided dedicated support.
Again this year, Mary Massieu personally presented us with the proceeds of 550 euros as a donation for the benefit of children and young people with cancer.
We would like to thank everyone for this great commitment.
The fourth charity star ride of the OMV Freigericht at Whitsun fell victim to the corona virus. Nevertheless, we received a donation for which we would like to express our sincere thanks.
40 participants were already registered, 34 had already paid their entry fee. 2,730 Euros were collected. The classic car drivers waived their right to a refund. Thus, the organisers were able to hand over 2,730 Euros to our Chairman of the Board, Dr. Jürgen Vogt, for the benefit of children and young people suffering from cancer.
Also on behalf of the young patients, a heartfelt thank you for this wonderful commitment.
Mystery of anticancer drug nelarabine for leukaemia treatment solved
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in children. With the active substance nelarabine, T-ALL, a subtype that resembles T-lymphocytes, can be treated well. However, B-ALL, a subtype that resembles B lymphocytes, cannot. The reason for this difference has been a mystery to oncologists since the 1980s. An international research team led by Goethe University and the University of Kent has now found the reason: B-ALL cells contain the enzyme SAMHD1, which inactivates the drug.
In the current issue of Communications Biology, Prof. Jindrich Cinatl from the Institute of Medical Virology at Goethe University and Prof. Martin Michaelis from the School of Biosciences at the University of Kent report on their investigations with neralabine on various cell lines. “Nelarabine is a precursor of the drug, a prodrug that only becomes effective when it is linked to three phosphate groups in the leukaemia cell,” explains Prof. Cinatl. “In studies of different ALL cell lines and leukaemia cells from ALL patients, we have now been able to show that the enzyme SAMHD1 cleaves the phosphate groups again, so that the drug loses its effect.” Because B-ALL cells contain more SAMHD1 than T-ALL cells, nelarabine is less effective in B- ALL.
These results may improve the therapy of ALL in the future. In rare cases, B-ALL cells contain only little SAMHD1, so that nelarabine could be used here. Conversely, there are also rare cases of T-ALL that have a lot of SAMHD1. In such cases, the otherwise effective nelarabine would not be a suitable drug. Prof. Michaelis says: “SAMHD1 is therefore a biomarker that allows us to better adapt the treatment with nelarabine to the individual situation of the ALL patient.”
Tamara Rothenburger looks back on her research with satisfaction: “I hope that many children suffering from leukaemia will benefit from the results.” The research was also supported by the Frankfurt Foundation for Children with Cancer. Other members of the research group were Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and University College London.
Publication: Tamara Rothenburger, Katie-May McLaughlin, Tobias Herold, Constanze Schneider, Thomas Oellerich, Florian Rothweiler, Andrew Feber, Tim R. Fenton, Mark N. Wass, Oliver T. Keppler, Martin Michaelis, Jindrich Cinatl . SAMHD1 is a key regulator of the lineage-specific response of acute lymphoblastic leukaemias to nelarabine. Communications Biology, DOI 10.1038/s42003-020-1052-8 https://rdcu.be/b49lf
Frankfurt Foundation
for children with cancer
Komturstraße 3a
60528 Frankfurt
Phone +49 (0)69 678665-0
Fax +49 (0)69 678665-94
Frankfurter Sparkasse 1822
IBAN: DE43 5005 0201 1245 6354 40
SWIFT-BIC: HELADEF1822
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