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A First Step Toward Hope: CAR T-Cell Therapy for Children in Russia
Here’s one of the stories that shows what you make possible — how your support helps shape a better future for children with cancer.
Eight out of ten children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) — strange as it may sound — are the lucky ones. That’s because modern medicine has developed an effective treatment protocol and a reliable supply of necessary medications for them. When applied on time in a world-class facility like the Federal Pediatric Oncohematology Center (FNKC) in Moscow, the results are truly life-saving.
But what about the remaining 20%?
For one in five children diagnosed with ALL, the standard therapy doesn’t work. Many of these children don’t respond even to a bone marrow transplant. Until recently, doctors had no viable treatment option left.
Then came hope: a groundbreaking new technology called CAR T-cell therapy — Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (therapy with T cells with the chimeric receptor to an antigen) — developed by leading cancer research labs, especially in the U.S.
What Is CAR T-Cell Therapy?
This innovative treatment involves extracting a patient’s own T-cells (a type of immune cell), genetically reprogramming them to recognize and destroy cancer cells, and then reintroducing them into the bloodstream. It’s a complex and promising approach — made possible by recent breakthroughs in cancer biology and genetic engineering following the decoding of the human genome.
CAR T-cell therapy is still considered experimental and is currently available only through clinical trials in the U.S. and Europe. For children in Russia, the treatment remains out of reach.
What Podari.Life Is Doing — With Your Help
Together with our sister charity Podari Zhizn and in partnership with the FNKC, Podari.Life is working to bring this revolutionary treatment to Russia.
Our long-term goal is to include Russian children in international CAR T-cell clinical trials and eventually make the therapy accessible in-country. This effort requires a highly complex process known as technology transfer — a combination of scientific coordination, medical alignment, and regulatory approval.
The first critical step was preparing an official clinical description of the CAR T-cell therapy that meets the requirements of the Russian Ministry of Health — a necessary prerequisite to gain consent for testing and future use.
And Here's the Big News
Thanks to your generous donations, we’ve completed this vital first step.
Podari.Life invested $5,000 to develop and finalize this documentation.
This submission brings us closer to securing government approval and sets the stage for future collaborations with U.S. patent holders, research teams, and medical institutions.
This is just the beginning. But it’s a powerful beginning — one that aligns perfectly with our mission: to support the advancement of medical knowledge and bring cutting-edge, life-saving treatments to children battling cancer in Russia.
Thank you for making this possible.
We promise to keep you informed as we take the next steps on this long, but hopeful road.