As Megan was fighting her personal battle with stage 4 Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, she became a determined and passionate advocate for childhood cancer. As she researched the dismal statistics associated with the most common cause of death by disease in children, she decided that instead of just complaining, she was going to do something about it. Prior to her passing at the hands of this vicious disease on March 9, 2022, she had already made her mark on the childhood cancer community by becoming a national advocate for spreading awareness and conducting her own fundraising projects to support promising childhood cancer research. Through her efforts, $1.8 million has been raised to fund various fundraising projects at Luries Children’s Hospital and more recently at the Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute.

In determining which research projects to fund, Megan spoke with the top childhood cancer researchers from across the country. She eventually landed on the work being conducted at cc-TDI by Dr. Charles Keller and his team of scientists and engineers. The first project Megan focused on was to raise $212,491 to conduct the preclinical trials on Entinostat, which when used in combination with other chemotherapies, could be effective at turning off the PAX3-FOXO1 gene, which would be a game-changer for treating metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma.

Thanks to the many generous supporters who have contributed to Megan’s fundraising efforts, the preclinical trials on Entinostat were completed at cc-TDI in collaboration with Champions Oncology and collaborators at Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins University with very encouraging results. Dr. Charles Keller presented these findings to the Children’s Oncology Group, results which dovetail with clinical research by Dr. Noah Federman (UCLA), for the context of a possible Phase II clinical trial.

Considering that since organized rhabdomyosarcoma clinical trials starting in 1972 NO new drugs have been FDA approved to treat rhabdomyosarcoma, this research on Entinostat could be groundbreaking in treating the type of cancer that inflicted Megan and far too many other children. The support you continue to provide the Megan’s Mission Foundation in realizing Megan’s goal of ending childhood cancer is making a difference. We are making progress, but we have so far to go. Please consider a tax-deductible contribution at