A Dallas-based bioengineer shared recently that his 3-month-old son had been diagnosed with the disease that he has spent the last decade researching.
Dr. Shashank Sirsi, assistant professor of bioengineering at The University of Texas at Dallas, has been researching the most effective treatment methods for brain cancer. Sirsi had just become a father when his son was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
According to NBC 5 News, Sirsi has spent 10 years investigating the most effective treatment for neuroblastoma, a disease that the American Cancer Society says affects over seven hundred children every year.
Sirsi and his wife, Dr. Priya Joshi, took their son J.D. for an ultrasound appointment after Joshi discovered a lump around the child’s abdomen. According to Sirsi, the ultrasound clearly showed J.D. had “masses on his liver and a primary mass on the adrenal gland.”
“He had some urine catecholamine test done,” Sirsi said. “That was [the] defining test that came back and said this is neuroblastoma. Our initial reaction was shock.”
J.D. started chemotherapy. Though he showed typical side effects like nausea and hair loss, his prognosis remained promising. While this form of cancer is rare, its cure rate is comparatively high.
“His prognosis is 95% of entry for survival after five years,” Sirsi added. “That sounds great as a scientist. As a parent, you’re always thinking about what is that other five percent?”
Sirsi, who had been researching neuroblastoma for 10 years, revealed that he had never met a child suffering from the cancer until J.D.
Sirsi said that now, he conducts his research with his son’s case at the back of his mind.
“Would I give this [treatment] to my son? That is really the question that kind of governs our research moving forward,” Sirsi said.
J.D. is now in partial remission, and his tumors are expected to dissipate on their own. However, doctors will monitor the tumors regularly.
“Sometimes, I’m just incredulous that we really kept our spirits high. We still found times to laugh through all of the tears,” said Joshi.
