Chris was 18 years old and had just begun testing the waters of freedom as a freshman in the dorms of CU Boulder. Halfway through the semester, Chris experienced an annoying pain in his left knee, an apparent sports injury. Two cortisone shots later, the pain continued.
It was not until a change in Orthopedist and an x-ray at the end of the semester uncovered a malignant nightmare.
Osteogenic Sarcoma accounts for approximately 3% of all Pediatric Cancers, usually occurring in adolescents ages 12-19 at the joint of the long bones. In Chris’s case it was the left tibia at the knee. Little is known about it causes and much more needs to be known about treatment.
What Chris’ Family and Friends Are Doing to End Pediatric Sarcoma
The idea for the Chris Robinson Foundation for Cancer Research was inspired by Chris in the last days of his life.
Chris’ last conversation with his trusted friend and Oncologist Dr. Lori Odom, concluded with a mutual agreement that the answers to the treatment of Osteogenic Sarcoma were at the molecular level, and that we were to start with his tissues.
Chris was persistent by nature; he used words like baby steps and slippery slope to navigate the task of conquering the cancer that had invaded his body.
We want to maintain that same persistence by supporting research that will one day conquer metastatic disease one baby step at a time.
The Foundation’s objective is to support innovated and progressive research that will take treatment beyond the agents that have been used for the last 25 years. Our mission, since the foundations inception in May 2008, is to development more effective treatment of this very rare complex form of bone cancer.
Foundation funds are used to finance clinical trials conducted through The Denver Clinic for Extremities at Risk.
Currently the foundation has financially committed to two research studies.
Katherine Pavlovsky, the Clincal Research Coordinator employed by The Denver Clinic for Extremities at Risk, communicates directly with a progressive research facility in Zurich Switzerland, Uniklink Balgrist. Dr. Bruno Fuchs heads the research for new treatments for Osteogenic Sarcoma.
This clinical trail requests a pilot study to determine if the new Aquilion One CT would be a better way to obtain angiograms for OGS patients. The New Aquillon One computer tomography (CT) machine, recently obtained by the radiology department at Presbyterian/St. Lukes Medical Center and Rock Mountain Hospital for Children, can be used to obtain angiograms in a faster time, using less radiation and hopefully with more accuracy.
Together, we can fulfill Chris’ wishes of improving treatments and move closer to a day when Osteogenic Sarcoma does not take the lives of our young people.
For more information on Chris Robinson and the Chris Robinson Foundation, log onto their website
at http://chris-robinson.org/Chris_Robinson_Foundation/Home.html
