HopeCONNECTION

50 Years of Hope: How Bone Marrow Transplants Are Transforming Lives

And how your support is transforming bone marrow transplants!

As we celebrate 50 years of bone marrow transplants at City of Hope®, including the milestone of surpassing 20,000 transplants, we want to share the story of Camila. Her Story of Hope is rooted in decades of experience by our transplant team and in the steady support for research by caring donors like you.

A Shocking Diagnosis

At first, Carolyn and Alex Gonzalez put their normally bubbly daughter’s tiredness down to starting preschool. Big schedule

adjustments can take time for a 3-year-old. Then they noticed the bruises all over Camila’s body. She was an active little girl, but not that active.

Their first step was to confirm nothing was happening at school to cause the bruises. Their second step was a visit to Camila’s pediatrician. “The doctor called later that same day and told us, ‘You need to take Camila to the hospital tonight,’” Carolyn remembers. “No one told us it was cancer until we got there. I guess they felt like it was delicate information we should hear in person.”

Camila had leukemia, normally a very treatable disease in children. Camila was different.

A New Direction

After a few rounds of chemotherapy didn’t help, Camila’s doctors knew she needed a bone marrow transplant, a procedure not offered at their hospital. Camila’s pediatric oncologist, Jerry Cheng, M.D., part of the City of Hope/Kaiser Bone Marrow Transplantation Team, referred her to the cancer center.

The first priority was to find a donor for Camila. When immediate family members weren’t a match,

50 Years of Hope: How Bone Marrow Transplants Are Transforming Lives

And how your support is transforming bone marrow transplants!

(Continued from page 1)

her heritage made that a challenge.

“You’re more compatible with people within your same race, and minorities have smaller numbers in the registry, so my husband and I decided we needed to reach out to people like us,” explains Carolyn who, like her husband, is Latino.

“We did a lot of Spanish-language media and registered a few hundred people. We found out later that some people found donors through those we registered, and that was exciting.” Unfortunately, Camila was not one of the people who was matched, but within months, they had found a suitable donor.

When City of Hope began performing bone marrow transplants in 1976, donors had to be a familial match, and we performed only about six per year. Today, we have one of the largest and most successful transplant programs in the country, performing more than 750 a year. Years of donorsupported research also mean that donors can come from outside the family — improving the odds for patients like Camila who face greater barriers to finding a match.

A Time to Help Others

Following her transplant in March 2012, Camila spent two months at City of Hope. Camila was too young to remember much of what happened, but she says, “There is a garden that my mom would visit and pray in, and she told me that as I got better, we would go together. We both like it so much that I took my quinceañera pictures there.”

Now preparing for college, Camila is enrolled in our survivorship program for young people. She’s also committed to using her experience to care for others. “Growing up with something like this, it’s hard to share,” she says. “But there are little kids that probably, like me, will end up feeling different, and I’d like them to know that it’s okay. I’ve come to realize my experiences give me a different perspective. I’ve matured differently than others my age, and I’m grateful for that.”

50 Years of Bone Marrow Transplants.

20,000+ More Tomorrows — Made Possible by Philanthropy.

NEW Clinical Trials Model

Increases

Your support means more people can enroll in lifesaving clinical trials!

“Currently, the gap between those who can access therapeutic breakthroughs and those who can’t is widening, and in many cases the issue is simply due to the zip code they reside in,” says Marcel van den Brink, M.D., Ph.D., president, City of Hope Los Angeles and National Medical Center and the Deana and Steve Campbell Chief Physician Executive Distinguished Chair.

That’s the impetus behind a bold new venture under way at City of Hope. Building on our 100year legacy of powerhouse research and clinical care, we’ve launched an innovative national clinical trials model.

The model has created a single centralized hub with multiple research locations, enabling us to open a clinical trial across multiple states simultaneously. Our recent expansion to 37 locations across the United States means that millions of Americans of diverse backgrounds are now within 90 minutes of a City of Hope site. Our new model allows investigators to bring groundbreaking science to every City of Hope location.

This overcomes a number of historic challenges for clinical trials: reducing patient enrollment times, increasing enrollment numbers and ensuring patients across a wide geographic footprint have access to an extensive portfolio of leading-edge treatment options. It’s a huge boost for our mission to make hope a reality for anyone touched by cancer or diabetes.

“Through innovation, City of Hope is removing barriers and bridging geographic divides, bringing our renowned clinical excellence closer to all patients,” says Dr. van den Brink. “This unique approach to clinical research, along with supportive care programs and personalized medicine, ensures every City of Hope patient can access the latest cancer advances.”

“Our North Star is to offer all our patients, regardless of where they live, the opportunity to participate in clinical trials, which provide them with promising new treatment options long before they become the standard of care,” adds Edward S. Kim, M.D., M.B.A., FACP, FASCO, vice physician-in-chief, City of Hope National Medical Center and system director, clinical trials. “Whether a trial is sponsored by the NIH, by a pharmaceutical company or is studying an investigational medicine developed right here at City of Hope, the remarkable function of our new national model is the ability for a single institution to enroll patients in communities who don’t typically have access to these types of leading-edge trials.”

In the first few months after the launch, nine clinical trials across solid tumors and blood cancers were up and running at 12 City of Hope sites. With centralized support, patient enrollment was ahead of expectations. Ongoing work will make the network scalable across the world and add AI and predictive tools to help determine the best location for each clinical trial.

As the first academic center with a national clinical trial network and a large and diverse patient population served through a national network of advanced cancer centers, City of Hope will offer unprecedented access to lifesaving care, novel therapies, and clinical decision-making expertise.

A new clinical trial model may not sound as glamorous as a research breakthrough, but your support for essential programs like this means increased access for more people, which will increase the pace of new treatments. Your commitment is creating hope in so many ways!

To learn more about the clinical trials model, contact: trialintake@coh.org

For details on participating in a clinical trial, call: (877) 915-5756

Your Summer Skin Safety

This summer, before you head out for fun in the sun, prepare to protect yourself from skin cancer! Sun exposure is the greatest risk factor for contracting many types of skin cancer, including melanoma, the most aggressive form. Unfortunately, we expect to see an increase of 10.6% in melanoma diagnoses in 2026.

Here are some checklists to help you reduce your risk and decide when it may be time to see a dermatologist.

Save Your Skin

Lower your risk by:

❒ Staying in the shade when you are outdoors

❒ Using sunscreen that has a sun protection factor of SPF15 or more when you’re in the sun

❒ Wearing sunglasses that provide protection from UV light

❒ Wearing a hat that shades your face and neck

❒ Avoiding the outdoors during the middle of the day, if possible

❒ Avoiding sunbeds, tanning beds and indoor tanning

❒ Examining your own skin for any changes in moles or spots or the appearance of any new spots

Remember that skin cancer risk from sun exposure is cumulative, so protecting children is especially important!

Know Your Spots

Use the ABCDE method to evaluate moles and skin changes that may need attention. When in doubt, get it checked.

❒ Asymmetric when line drawn through center

❒ Borders that are ragged or blurred

❒ Color variation in the same mole

❒ Diameter of more than 6mm, the size of a pencil eraser

❒ Evolution or change over time (size, shape, color, new bleeding, etc.)

The good news is, ongoing research is making new treatments available, and most skin cancers are not life-threatening. The better news is, some simple precautions can significantly reduce your risk.

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Walk for Hope with Us!

Registration for Walk for Hope 2026 is open now, and you’re invited!

What is Walk for Hope? It’s our largest community fundraising event of the year and a movement bringing together survivors, families, friends and supporters determined to end cancer for all.

Prizes, surprises, laughter and hope are all part of this family-friendly event with an amazing purpose. Every step taken at Walk for Hope fuels groundbreaking research and compassionate care at City of Hope, bringing us closer to cures for every type of cancer.

We’d love to see you in:

Chicago: October 3

Las Vegas: October 24

Phoenix: November 7

Atlanta: November 7

Los Angeles: November 8

Orange County: November 8

No event near you? Join the Virtual Walk for Hope and participate wherever you are.

Register today at walk.cityofhope.org, join or start a Walk for Hope team, and together, let’s take steps closer to a world without cancer.

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

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