September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Strides are being made in New Mexico to treat those cases of cancer. Koh Boyau and Laurel Christiansen with the University of New Mexico Pediatric Oncology Program talked about the incidences here in New Mexico.
The Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorder Team at UNM works with children, adolescents and young adults. The UNM team is also apart of the Children’s Oncology Group, which is the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research. The clincial trials offer cutting-edge treatments to paitents to help improve survival and quality of life.
When a patient is apart of the UNM pediatric canters team, families are also encouraged to connect with the Children’s Cancer Fund of New Mexico.
The Children’s Cancer Fund of New Mexico is a 501-c-3 not for profit organization. It provides services to over 300 children and their families each year and operates on a budget of nearly $800,000.
Children’s Cancer Fund of New Mexico also offers resources for families. Some of those include:
- Gas vouchers
- Food vouchers
- Scholarship assistance
- Funeral assistance
- Tutoring program
- Counseling
