Developmental Therapeutics

When standard cancer therapies aren’t working, Atrium Health Levine Children’s connects kids to clinical trials of the latest, most promising treatments through our developmental therapeutics program. These therapies give hope to families and help researchers gather information that could make future treatments even better.

A comprehensive cancer clinical trials program

Here’s how children benefit from our developmental therapeutics program:

• Access to clinical trials at every phase. Unlike many pediatric hospitals, we have the expertise and resources to offer Phase I clinical trials. This gives some children access to the most innovative therapies before they’re widely available.
• In-house principal investigators (PIs). Many of our doctors design, develop and oversee clinical trials. This means your child can access these trials first, without traveling to a faraway hospital.
• A specialized team. New drugs come with special instructions, and your child’s doctors and nurses need to be aware of potential side effects so they know what to watch for. Our doctors, nurses and research coordinators have special expertise in matching your child with the right trial and in guiding them through treatment. This makes treatment as safe and effective as possible.
• Collaboration with your pediatrician and other providers. This helps us understand your child’s medical history and unique needs, so we can match them with the best possible therapy.
• A large network of research partners. We collaborate with the world’s leading researchers and research organizations. This gives your child access to clinical trials that are available at few other hospitals, including trials for rare cancers.
• New and leading drug therapies. We’re one of a few health systems across the country able to provide some of the latest, most advanced treatments, including difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), a drug designed to prevent relapse. We’re one of five founding research partners that studied DFMO therapy for high-risk neuroblastoma. Our Phase II clinical trial received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2020.

Our commitment to beat childhood cancer

We are proud to be the home of the Beat Childhood Cancer Research Consortium. This international organization unites more than 40 universities and children’s hospitals in a mission to connect children to new therapies for high-risk pediatric cancers with a focus on neuroblastoma, brain tumors and rare pediatric cancers. Our team of labs and clinics collaborate closely together to increase the speed of which our discoveries become promising new clinical trials. Our mission is to advance precision medicine, bring forward new therapies and to find a cure for pediatric cancer patients.

As the headquarters to this consortium, we bring some of the most recent innovations in pediatric cancer to our patients in Charlotte. These include:

• Emerging therapies: Patients have access to a worldwide network of phase I and phase II clinical trials, coordinated right here at Levine Children’s Hospital. These trials advance our goal to increase survival and decrease the toxicity of treatments by targeting the unique factors that drive each child’s tumor.
• Individualized approach: Beat Childhood Cancer researchers are at the forefront of precision medicine, developing treatments based on your child’s genetic or molecular profiles.
• Early adoption: The discoveries made in the consortium lab actively help children in our hospital as well as member hospitals across the country, whether they’re newly diagnosed or facing relapse.
• World-renowned leadership: Giselle L. Saulnier Sholler, MD, the consortium’s founder and principal investigator, is the director of the Isabella Santos Foundation Solid and Rare Tumor Program at Levine Children’s.

Improving care through global partnerships

Our physicians work with researchers around the world to offer trials of emerging therapies. Partners include:

• Children's Oncology Group (COG), which brings over 9,000 leading doctors and scientists together to develop new therapies and run clinical trials.
• National Pediatric Cancer Foundation’s Sunshine Project, where top pediatric cancer experts team up to develop treatments and improve survival.
• Pediatric Brain Tumors Consortium, a nationwide organization where childhood cancer leaders come together to improve pediatric brain tumor care.
• Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia & Lymphoma (TACL), which connects kids with new medications for pediatric blood cancers.