Help and Hope—When it comes to finding a cure for childhood cancer, Georgia is leading the charge
When Davidson College senior David Johnston was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a virulent form of the blood cancer, at age 3, statistically speaking he was not expected to live. Today, David’s story of survival is one his father shares often as director of pediatric hematology/oncology at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah.
“When people want a concrete example of a child who has done well, especially a child who has beat the odds, it is nice to say ‘well, I live with somebody like that,’” says Martin Johnston, M.D.
Stories of survival, like Johnston’s, thankfully are becoming increasingly common. For acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common cancer in children, five-year survival rates are up significantly from a decade or even five years ago. Even for more rare and difficult-to-treat forms of childhood cancer, survival rates are rising, thanks in large part to treatments offered, tested and in some cases developed right here in Georgia.