Groundbreaking Research Studying Cancer in Elephants Spurs New Funding for Childhood Cancer

Dr. Joshua Schiffman and the team from Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, the University of Utah -Department of Pediatrics, and Huntsman Cancer Institute are studying why there is such a low rate of cancer in elephants, what makes this cancer resistance possible, and how this may correlate to new treatments for pediatric cancers.

Working with Utah’s Hogle Zoo and Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation, Dr. Schiffman and colleagues studied the response of elephant blood to DNA damaging agents and discovered that elephants may have a better mechanism for killing damaged cells that are at risk for becoming cancerous. Dr. Schiffman believes this may be why elephants develop less cancer than humans. The study’s full findings have been published in the new edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

New Fundraising Partnership to Support Childhood Cancer Research

On the heels of this exciting research, The Feld Family, owners of Feld Entertainment, Inc., the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey^® and Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation^® announced a new funding effort with Primary Children’s Hospital.

“With this partnership between Ringling Bros. and Primary Children’s Hospital, we are now exploring how to apply these discoveries to children and families most at risk to develop cancer,” said Dr. Schiffman. “We want to use these lessons from nature to prevent, develop early recognition tools, and treat cancer in humans.”

The Feld Family is forming the Ringling Bros. Children’s Fund™, as an element of their ongoing philanthropy through the Feld Family Foundation, to support children’s charities. As part of the partnership, more than $1 million dollars will be donated to support cancer research and care for children.

In the next 50 cities Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey visits, $10,000 will be donated to a local children’s hospital and the Ringling Bros. Children’s Fund will match each donation with an additional $10,000 donation to Primary Children’s Hospital to support the Pediatric Cancer Research Program. This program, which helped support the elephant research, focuses on novel approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and improving the value of pediatric cancer care.

“This ongoing partnership to raise funds for research with Ringling Bros. enables us to assist in new cancer treatment protocols, that provide a more innovative and integrated approach to cancer treatment, and provide better long-term outcomes and support families through long-term care,” says Richard Lemons, MD, PhD, medical director and chief of pediatric hematology/oncology at Primary Children’s Hospital.

Learn more, get involved, and participate in this exciting new initiative:

• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
• Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation
• Donate to the Primary Children’s Cancer Research Program

About the Author

Primary Children's Hospital

Primary Children’s Hospital ranks among the best children's hospitals. Located in scenic Utah, everything in our hospital is focused on providing the best care for children. For more than 90 years, we have been committed to helping children, families, and communities across the western United States.

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