Childhood cancer is considered rare and receives few research dollars, leaving children — and their families — desperate to find experimental treatments that insurance companies won’t pay for.

Only 4% of federal government cancer research funding goes to pediatric cancer. DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma) is found in the brainstem, the part of the brain controlling basic functions like breathing and swallowing, as well as muscles that help with speech and eye movements. About 300 kids in the U.S. are diagnosed with DIPG each year. 

This cancer is fatal upon diagnosis. The treatment (radiotherapy) offered is only palliative, is the same as was offered 50+ years ago (when the astronaut, Neil Armstrong's, daughter died from DIPG in 1962) and median life expectancy is just 9 months.

Lets increase this budget to a meaningful number that will give our kids a chance to live their lives that currently get stolen from them mercilessly.