Major Advances in Childhood Cancer Research in 2011

As 2011 comes to an end, we celebrate not only our brave childhood cancer heroes, but also the dedicated researchers and scientists who continue to work toward better treatments and realizing Alex’s vision of eradicating childhood cancer. These men and women are of all ages and levels in their careers and face significant challenges in the field, most notably that childhood cancer research is vastly and consistently underfunded.

Despite this, we at Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation remain optimistic that a cure will be found and steadfast in our efforts to support this research with the funds that we raise. Although there is a great deal of work to be done, we’re getting there. Case in point, in 2011, results from two research studies have led to major advances in the way two forms of childhood cancer are treated.

Results from a study out of St. Anna Children’s Hospital and Research Institute in Austria showed that a new high-dose combination of chemotherapy drugs significantly improved survival for children with high risk neuroblastoma, establishing a new standard of care. Neuroblastoma, the type of cancer that Alex had, accounts for approximately 15 percent of childhood cancer deaths and about 40 percent of cases are considered high risk, meaning they will probably recur despite therapy. The chemo combo showed such strong results that the randomization in the trial was stopped and all of the children enrolled were given the new regimen. You can understand why this is a big deal.

Another “game changer” this year was when researchers in a Children’s Oncology Group (COG) trial found that a new, higher-dose chemotherapy regimen improved the cure rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), boosting it to more than 80 percent. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common leukemia in children, but relapses continue to be a problem. This new therapy proved to be better than previous treatments at preventing relapses as well as extending survival, once again resulting in a new standard of care for children with high risk ALL.

So, you can see why it is critical that childhood cancer research continues to receive adequate funding to support these studies that are truly saving the lives of children with cancer. Funding is also needed to expand the scope of research to not only prolong life, but also improve the quality of life for childhood cancer patients before, during and after treatment.

We applaud all of the researchers who are working so hard to better the lives of children with the disease and we’ll continue to support their efforts in our fight against childhood cancer. Who knows, maybe 2012 will be the year that leads to the cure….

Have a happy and healthy start to 2012!

On a lighter note…we’re hoping that you’ll provide us with some feedback about our blog as we look to improve upon it for 2012. Are there any posts that you particularly like or others you don’t necessarily want to hear about? Do you like guest bloggers, off-topic blogs, etc…? Leave a comment or shoot us an email so we can help make this more of what you’re looking for in the coming year.

Guest Blog: Two Renowned Chefs, One Great Cause…

We’ve had two incredibly successful culinary events in the past two months raising more than $650,000 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation in the fight against childhood cancer. What’s pretty amazing about these events is that they are truly chef-driven. Although our event staff provides a great deal of support, the group of elite chefs who participate are the ones who have been inspired by Alex’s story and taken it upon themselves to create the fundraiser. Two of the participating chefs, Marcus Samuelsson (Red Rooster, Marc Burger, C-House) and Hedy Goldsmith (Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink), were kind enough to blog about their experience at the recent events (Lemon: NYC and L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade) giving an inside perspective on the wonderful food, collegial spirit, challenging weather and most importantly, the fabulous cause.

Marcus Samuelsson (Lemon: NYC)



Who would’ve thought that a child’s simple lemonade stand could someday become a huge powerhouse nonprofit that raises millions of dollars a year for the sole purpose of cancer research and treatment? Well that’s exactly what Alexandra Scott was able to achieve as her dying wish through her idea for Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is a cancer charity that has raised more than $50 million, funding more than 200 cutting-edge research projects, created a travel program to help support families of children receiving treatment and developed resources to help people everywhere affected by childhood cancer.

Last week, I had the honor of participating in a fundraising dinner for Alex’s Lemonade Stand (Lemon: NYC), with 30 or so of my chef colleagues. The event space was donated by Chef Jonathan Waxman and the organization invited 30 renowned chefs to share their dishes with donors to this great cause. I cooked that night alongside great names like Tom Colicchio, Alex Guarnaschelli, Franklin Becker, Bill Telepan, Jonathan Waxman, Tim Love and Tony Mantuano. Each chef had a table of 10 guests to whom they served a unique menu of the chef’s own creation.

Not only will I always remember this event for its great cause and the amazing talents all in one place, but also the design of the event that was unlike any other tasting I’ve previously attended. At this dinner, we had the opportunity to actually cook our food and put together a 3 to 4 course dinner while the guests looked on around the room. At most tastings, there is very little cooking and a lot of greeting and picture taking. At this great dinner, we were able to really focus on the food and then interacted with individual guests at our tables when we presented our dishes. My menu consisted of a Gravlax Poke with Purple Mustard, Jerk Bacon over Cowpeas served with seared Octopus, Coffee-cured Duck with a Foie Gras Terrine and a Watercress salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette. Finally for dessert we served Sweet Potato Donuts. The food was followed by a beautiful ballet performance of The Nutcracker and a live auction.

I had a great time seeing all my colleagues and definitely helping out such a great cause that helps hundreds of children with cancer each year.


Hedy Goldsmith (L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade)



I had the pleasure of being invited to participate in my first Alex's Lemonade Stand chef event in November. It was Suzanne Goin's L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade shindig, and wow what an experience for my first. Truly unforgettable in so many ways... let's begin with the rain! So it's 8 o’clock in the morning on Sunday, November 6 when we arrive to the tents and the weather is horrendous. The mud was up to our knees.... mud and muck! Jen Davidson from camp Barbuto was wearing flip flops – our honorary Miamian. No one was prepared. From fabulous hunter boots to flip flops and everything else in between, and we of course brought the Chuck Taylor sneaker contingent. It was freezing cold and I was worried that people wouldn’t come to the event. My assistant Trew Sterling and I were on the edge of two connecting tents and I kept telling Trew to layer more cardboard down. Trew along with everyone else would go raid all the boxes from people unloading liquor. We'd break them down, pad the ground, and have to go get more in a matter of minutes. We just kept sinking down! Picture an elegant party, like the most beautiful one you can imagine, then add cardboard, water and mud. I say this right now and it all sounds rather dramatic, but the fact is that, well, no one really cared - what were we going to do? Then a miracle happened. At 11:00 am, when guests were to begin arriving, it became picture perfect. The Scott family got on stage and started with the speeches and it was amazing – pretty spectacular. From the pre-party at Nancy's (Nancy Silverton) to the post party at The Hungry Cat in Santa Monica with David (David Lentz) putting out such a beautiful spread with fresh seafood and spicy steamed shrimp and cocktails, spicy chicken wings and fun bar food; it was so sweet and gracious – like the wet morning never happened. The party went very late and all of us on the Genuine team finished at In-N-Out Burger. I'm now hooked on Alex's and can't wait for my next event!

Thanksgiving...continued

We know…Thanksgiving was last Thursday, but we can’t help to share the moving and inspirational messages of thanks from the hearts of our childhood cancer heroes. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) created a project via our Facebook fans asking our heroes and hero families to submit a photo of themselves or of their child stating what they are thankful for this year. Our heroes never disappoint – the response was overwhelming and the photos are heartwarming to say the least. A select few are below, to view the entire album, check out our photo album on Flickr.

As we enter the final 31 days of 2011, we’re busier than ever here at ALSF. The final preparations are underway for our Lemon: NYC culinary event next week, our Annual Lemon Ball on January 14 and a host of other projects; not to mention trying to get ourselves and families ready for the holidays. However, one look at the dimpled smile on Daniel’s face below or the message from Justin’s family that although simple, resonates to the core, and things get put into perspective pretty quickly. We hope that these snapshots of our heroes living life to the fullest can help instill a sense of calm in your lives as well during this hectic time of year.

Of course, we at Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation are thankful for you and your continued support! We’d love to hear more from all of you of what you’re grateful for – please comment on this post and join us as we honor our heroes this holiday season.



Daniel Cooper
7 years old
Daniel is thankful for the doctors to make him not have cancer anymore and that he lives in a home and has friends.



Matt Schechter
10/26/89 - 3/25/10
Matt's family: "Our family will be forever thankful for having had Matt in our lives"



Tony Salerno
8 years old
Tony is thankful for Alex's Lemonade Stand and video games.



Isabel Carles
9 years old
Isabel is thankful for being (almost) 5 years in remission.



Cole Fitzgerald
7 years old
Cole is thankful for his sisters



Justin Bissett
2/9/00 - 6/26/07
Justin's family: "Justin will always remain in our hearts. We are so thankful for all of the great years we had to spend with him."



Alex Podeszwa
Alex is thankful for LIFE.



Jacob Goeders AKA "The Leukemia Slayer"
10 years old
Jacob has renamed himself The Leukemia Slayer and he is thankful for: his friends and family, the great hospital he goes to and... ham & chutney, and lots of it!!!



Alexandra "Alex" Scott
1/18/96 - 8/1/04

Alex's family: "We are thankful that we have so many wonderful people helping kids with cancer and that Alex had this vision for changing the world for kids with cancer."

- Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation