Children’s Memorial researcher optimistic about her work

Researchers are constantly looking at new ways to strengthen the fight against brain tumors in children. While definitive therapies in the field have yet to emerge, there are many areas of research that continue to show great signs of promise. At Children’s Memorial Hospital, Amy Rosenfeld’s research in the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Department is one example of progress that continues to offer hope.

In the final year of a three-year fellowship at Children’s Memorial, Rosenfeld’s work zeroed in on one property of the drug Busulfan, which is already being used effectively in oral form to treat certain kinds of cancer. Busulfan has been used to treat brain tumors, but at doses that necessitate support until a bone marrow transplant. With this starting point, Rosenfeld tested an intravenous version of the medication treatment in lower doses to determine whether bone marrow damage can be avoided without reducing the drug’s positive affects. “By testing this new form of an existing drug, there may be a way to develop a new treatment specific to brain tumors,” said Rosenfeld, who plans to become a pediatric neuro-oncologist after completing her fellowship. Under the guidance of Dr. Stewart Goldman and partially funded by The Rory David Deutsch Foundation, Rosenfeld’s work has already cleared early testing hurdles and is being readied for a Phase I clinical trial. “We have completed background work on animals and proposed the Phase I trial, which involves testing the technique in humans,” said Rosenfeld. “This is something we’re very excited about.”