Montreal Children’s Hospital | Twice as many pediatric oncology clinical trials

The Montreal Children’s Hospital will double the number of clinical trials in pediatric oncology thanks to a $1 million donation. For 20 years, these clinical trials have been increasing in number, providing access to treatments for rare cancers.

“We want to offer more treatments,” explains Catherine Vézina, director of the hematology-oncology division at the Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH). “We have patients who have to go to Toronto to be treated. We hope to be able to open some of these studies in Quebec.”

For example, a clinical trial gave young patients access to a treatment that increased the five-year survival rate from 90% to 97%. The D^D Vézina could not say more because these results are about to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

For Jessy Carol Villalta Aldana of La Plaine, a clinical trial meant the difference between life and death for her son Jake.

“Jake started having back pain at the end of secondary 4,” explains M^me Villalta Aldana: At first I thought it was because of volleyball or bodybuilding. But in the end, there was a diagnosis of leukemia.

It was a rare leukemia, for which there was a clinical trial at the MCH. Jake had to miss his fifth year of secondary school, but he is in remission and the chemotherapy should stop next December. The 17-year-old now plans to finish his secondary school in adult education.

Dimitri Lappos also benefited from a clinical trial for his son Jameson, who was diagnosed with leukemia in the spring of 2023 at age two, while his mother Kelley was about to give birth to his little sister Scarlett. He is now in remission and follow-up chemotherapy is expected to end next June. “When Scarlett was born, I would go to see her and go to chemo in turn,” says the father from La Prairie.

Administrative procedures

The MCH began conducting pediatric oncology clinical trials at the beginning of the millennium. The number has doubled to 56 in the past five years, and about 20 more are expected to be launched in the next year. The administrative procedures for these clinical trials are very cumbersome and are generally not funded by governments.

“With rare cancers, we need to team up with other pediatric hospitals in Canada and the United States to have enough patients for a clinical trial,” says Dr.^D Vézina: Ideally, we open the clinical trial here to be able to include a patient with this type of cancer when it presents itself.”

The $1 million donation, which is expected to increase the administrative staff currently limited to 15 people, was made by the Fuel Transport company. “We’ve been supporting the MCH for about 15 years,” said its president Robert Piccioni. “I’m lucky to have three healthy daughters, but I want to help parents who have sick children.”

That donation could reach $2 million through the Papa George Foundation, which Piccioni founded in honor of his father, who died of cancer in 2016. “I’m committed to raising another million through the foundation,” Piccioni said.