Mission & Vision

Realizing Caroline's Vision

"Just think how many kids we could save if we had a million dollars!" —Caroline Pryce Walker

The Mission and the Vision
The death of 9- year- old Caroline Pryce Walker from neuroblastoma in September 1999 propelled her parents into action and Hope Street Kids was born. Congresswoman Deborah Pryce and Randy Walker have shaped their daughter's dream into reality. Today, Hope Street Kids is leading the critical fight to eliminate childhood cancer through pioneering research, advocacy and education. And it is realizing Caroline's vision of a world without childhood cancer.

Hope in Action
Hope Street Kids' education and advocacy initiatives are focusing the nation's attention on the critical needs of children with cancer, and its thriving research program is identifying the most promising new treatments for pediatric cancer.

Because of its sustained support, important scientific breakthroughs are being quickly translated into effective strategies that are improving the quality of life for all children. In just a few short years, Hope Street Kids has:

• Awarded over $5.4 million in support of research grants and fellowships to scientists at the nation's leading medical centers.
• Been the catalyst for improved palliative care, to relieve the pain and suffering of children with cancer.
• Spearheaded innovative training programs for physicians, nurses, social workers, parents and others who care for pediatric cancer patients.
• Convened a landmark international conference to improve treatment for neuroblastoma and speed enhanced therapies from the laboratory to the bedside.
• Been an effective advocate for national policy to improve the quality of care and increase access to pediatric cancer care for thousands of children.
• Provided critical information to help the families of children with cancer cope with diagnosis and treatment.

Hope Street Kids Initiatives

• Research: Awards two- year grants and fellowships to the most promising proposals selected by the Hope Street Kids' distinguished Scientific Review Panel.
• Advocacy: works to increase funding for research, speed delivery of new therapies, increase access to clinical trials and quality care, and extend support to pediatric cancer patients and their families.
• Education: Improves training of professionals caring for pediatric cancer patients, and provides information and resources to families facing a pediatric cancer diagnosis.

Why:

• Annually, an estimated 12,500 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer, and 2,500 will die from it.
• Pediatric cancer is the number one disease killer in children ages 1-20, and the fourth most common cause of all deaths after accidents, homicides and suicides.
• Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in children under 15.
• One of every 330 people in the United States will develop cancer before their 20th birthday.
• The median age of cancer diagnosis in children is six, meaning that an entire lifetime is at risk.
• The cause of most childhood cancers is unknown. At present, childhood cancer cannot be prevented.
• On average, 1 in 4 elementary schools has a child with cancer. The average high school has two students who are current or former cancer patients.
• Childhood cancer cuts across all social, economic and ethnic lines.
• Despite the advances in early detection and treatment, only two-thirds of children diagnosed with cancer survive. Although the majority of children's leukemias are now curable, mortality is still substantial among children with solid tumors.
• When you compare the federal research support allocated to each patient affiliated with AIDS, a child diagnosed with cancer is getting only one-sixth of the support for every year of life saved. For every dollar spent on a patient with prostate cancer, less than 20 cents is spent on a child with cancer. Likewise, a patient with breast cancer has triple the research resources allocated to her or him when compared to a child.
• Seventy percent of diagnosed patients participate in clinical trials. As a result, the pediatric cancer mortality rate has decreased by 49% since 1975.
• American children are more likely to develop leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, neuroblastoma, Wilms' Tumor or a sarcoma than HIV/AIDS.
• Nationally, the incidence of cancer in children is more than 20 times greater than the incidence of AIDS in children.
• Pediatric cancer research receives only one-sixth the amount of federal funding that is distributed for AIDS research.
• Knowledge about cancer can relieve anxiety, build trust and streamline healthcare delivery. However, information about treatment options and current and long-term follow up results are not easily available for pediatric patients, their parents, health-care professionals, insurance companies or the general public.
• Investment in pediatric cancer research pays dividends in understanding the basic biology of cancer, treating adults with malignant disease and providing principles of therapy. The following are the result of pediatric cancer clinical trials:
  • Chemotherapy as a curative drug for human cancer.
  • The success of multimodal therapy (surgery, chemotherapy and radiation).
  • Current principles used in transfusion of blood components, including platelet and granulocyte transfusions.
• Survivors of childhood cancer can lead productive and fulfilling lives.