Amazing Allison: A Young ‘Pioneer’ And The Boston Doctors Who Saved Her

BOSTON (CBS) – Just before Allison Schablein’s fifth birthday, she was diagnosed with brain cancer. Seven metastatic, malignant gliomas. Doctors could only remove one of them. Allison received chemotherapy. But it didn’t stop the cancer from growing. “She started with a terrible tumor in the worst circumstance,” says Dr. Mark Kieran, Director of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Fortunately, new technology allowed Dr. Kieran and the doctors at both Dana Farber and Boston Children’s Hospital to do a molecular profile of the single tumor they had removed. Incredibly, they discovered that Allison’s cancer had a mutation also found in some skin cancer patients—specifically adults with melanoma. And for those adult patients, there was actually a highly successful drug, Dabrafenib. Dr. Kieran and his team wanted to know—could the drug work on a child with brain cancer? No child had ever taken it. And there was only one way to find out. Allison would have to become the only child in a clinical trial. Dr. Kieran and Allison Schablein (WBZ-TV) There was no way to know whether it would work. And in fact, doctors didn’t even know what dose to give Allison. It was a frightening decision for her parents, Dan Schablein and Michelle Moscardini. “Obviously, we want the best for our kids,” Dan Schablein said. “We want new. We want cutting edge. But it’s also a really tough decision to be first.” Dan explained, there were ...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Local News Seen On WBZ-TV Syndicated Local Watch Listen Allison Schablein Lisa Hughes Source Type: news