The Kids with Cancer Society has committed $1.5 million to fund a research endowment chair in pediatric oncology.

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“New researcher to focus on childhood cancer” by Bill Mah Brown of the Edmonton Journal

The toxic chemicals that helped beat back the cancer in Elexis Ortlieb's body also left the 11-year-old girl coping with learning difficulties.

This and other lingering side-effects such as hearing problems and damaged internal organs often occur when cancer treatments designed for grown-ups are used on youngsters whose growing bodies are more vulnerable to the healing poisons of chemotherapy and radiation.

But a new endowed chair position dedicated to improving the treatment of childhood cancer could lead to more kid-friendly medicines and techniques.

The Kids with Cancer Society and the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta announced Wednesday they will establish an Edmonton-based research chair focused on pediatric oncology.

"For many children, the cure comes at a cost," said Stollery Children's Hospital pediatric oncologist Dr. Paul Grundy and director of the Northern Alberta Children's Cancer Program.

He said there has been little research on the unique problems faced by children with cancer. "Children's cancer is just completely different than adult cancer," Grundy said.

"It's a whole different set of diseases that require different research. They're going to require different treatments and different approaches."

Kids actually get more aggressive treatment than adults because their organs are young and healthy, Grundy said. "At the same time we do have challenges with the fact that their organs are still developing so they are more susceptible to some side-effects more than adults."

On Wednesday, Kids with Cancer announced they would fundraise $1.5 million. The U of A will look to raise a matching $1.5 million from the Alberta government's Access to the Future Fund.

The interest from the money will be used to recruit a top researcher, along with team members, who will explore various ways to improve children's cancer care and treatment.

The chair's main job will be research, with slight teaching duties. "It's a major advantage because most of the other people you recruit in university have to do a lot of teaching or patient care so you don't have the time for the research," said Tom Marrie, dean of the faculty of medicine and dentistry.

"It allows you to focus on one particular problem so we can advance the knowledge in that area."

Bill Scott, chairman of Kids with Cancer Society, said childhood cancer kills more children than any other disease. Three in 10 children who have cancer die from the disease. About one in 300 young people will be diagnosed with cancer before age 20. "It's time to address the research needs of children," Scott said. "Their unique needs are too often ignored."

Elexis Ortlieb underwent radiation, chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant before her leukemia went into remission two years ago. She documented her months' long battle with a string holding dozens of coloured beads symbolizing her hospital visits and treatments.

News of the child-centred cancer research chair elated her mother Ellen Ortlieb. "I can't wait for this stuff to really happen," she said. "We need to try to find easier, better, more effective treatments for the children."

Jolan (left) and Elexis (right) both childhood cancer survivors and Dr. Paul Grundy