Support continues to grow for Leah Still and her fight against cancer. If you have a few thousand dollars to spare, you can join the effort by bidding on a star-studded Devon Still Bengals jersey. Ellen DeGeneres is auctioning the jersey that’s been signed by Taylor Swift, President Bill Clinton, Nicole Kidman, One Direction and many more supporters. Bidding ends on December 9.
Leah Still, 4, is in the fight of her life against a rare neuroblastoma, a cancer that accounts for just seven to ten percent of all childhood cancers. While her treatment, the support shown around the league and the bond she shares with her father has been the feel-good story of the season, Leah’s story has also caused concern among parents, who know so little about the rare disease she’s fighting.
What are neuroblastomas?
Neuroblastomas are most commonly found in and around the adrenal glands, which have similar origins to nerve cells and sit atop the kidneys, they can also develop in other areas of the abdomen, in the chest, neck or near the spine.
Originating in immature nerve cells, the cancer develops from nerve cells in the fetus called neuroblasts. Usually, as a fetus matures after birth, neuroblasts develop normally and harmlessly. Sometimes, though, they become cancerous, causing a neuroblastoma.
The cause is still largely unknown. Environmental factors don’t seem to hold an answer. The clues are nebulous at best “” neuroblastomas do occur slightly more often in boys than girls, and there seems to be a genetic factor.
Treatment options
Research continues on the treatment front as well. Current protocols range from surgery “” in cases where the tumor has spread from its original location “” to chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Survivability is quite good for low-risk patients when a neuroblastoma is caught early. Others, when the disease has progressed, have a 50-50 chance of survival.
That’s the category that little Leah falls into.
By all accounts, her treatment is going well though.
Diagnosed last June, Leah had chemotherapy over the summer to shrink the softball-sized tumor in her abdomen and underwent surgery in September to have it removed. She has had radiation treatment and, just before Thanksgiving, had a stem cell transplant at Philadelphia’s Children’s Hospital to help regenerate her bone marrow and stem cells damaged by rounds of chemo and radiation.
Each year, only 800 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S., mostly in infants and children under the age of five, so parents needn’t be overly concerned until they have reason to be. Often, diagnosis only comes after a tumor or lump becomes obvious. But parents should be alert if their children have a combination of stomach pain, decreased appetite and leg weakness, hallmark early symptoms of neuroblastoma.
Those symptoms are common to other ailments, though, so there still might not be a reason to suspect your child has a neuroblastoma.
