SACRAMENTO, Calif. – After losing their brothers to childhood cancer, Sahil Mehta, 17, and Rayaan Kolte, 12, are resolved to help save lives from this devastating disease. On April 9, they joined over 150 cancer advocates from across California at the state Capitol for Cancer Action Day. During the event, organized by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), they urged lawmakers to support a bill that would boost childhood cancer research funding.
“I lost my brother Ronil to Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a rare and aggressive brain cancer that only has palliative treatment options to manage symptoms,” said Mehta, the ACS CAN legislative ambassador instrumental in drafting and introducing Assembly Bill 703. “Ronil’s last wish was to donate his tumor for cancer research to find ways to treat the disease. AB 703 honors that wish by making it easy for Californians to support childhood cancer research directly through their state tax return.”
Cancer remains the number one cause of death by disease for children in the U.S. Yet, pediatric cancer receives less than 8% of the federal cancer research budget. The largest share of funding for late-stage drug development for adult cancers typically comes from private industry. However, there is little financial incentive for private companies to invest in pediatric research as the patient population impacted by childhood cancer is much smaller.
“DIPG has been known since the 1960s, and the standard of care still hasn’t changed. In fact, Neil Armstrong’s daughter got diagnosed with DIPG, and he said, ‘How can they send me to the moon but cannot cure my daughter?’ How many more decades must go by before we have a cure for this deadly disease?” asked Kolte during a committee hearing on April 7. His brother Neev died of DIPG at age six.
As part of the Neev Kolte & Brave Ronil Foundation, Mehta and Kolte, along with their families, are dedicated to raising awareness about childhood cancer and supporting research projects focused on the disease.
For more information on how ACS CAN is advocating for cancer patients, survivors, and their families at the local, state, and federal levels, visit fightcancer.org.
