Tampa oncologist conducting research to develop vaccine to prevent pediatric leukemia
TAMPA, Fla. - Pediatric cancer has touched the lives of families around the world.
Dr. Cameron Tebbi, a pediatric hematologist and oncologist in Tampa, spent decades treating hundreds of pediatric cancer patients and their families nationwide.
Dr. Cameron Tebbi studying a potential pediatric leukemia vaccine through a microscope.
"I have concentrated many of my years of practice on curing children," Tebbi said.
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After decades spent treating patients, Tebbi wants to find more than a cure for pediatric leukemia.
Tebbi has worked in Tampa for the last three decades and has been the director of the Children’s Cancer Research Group Laboratories since 2017.
The research lab is funded and operated by the 1Voice Foundation.
Over the last several years, Tebbi has been working to develop a vaccine against pediatric leukemia.
"The best way to deal with leukemia is not to deal with it," Tebbi said.
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For the past few decades, Tebbi has worked with Dr. Richard Gunderman, a retired pediatric neurologist in Tampa, to find a vaccine for pediatric leukemia.
"It is not a childhood illness," Gunderman said. "It is a family illness."
In the last few years, Tebbi has made breakthroughs in his research.
"What we found is that (these) particular fungi, Aspergillus, (which) contains Mycovirus, changed the genetics of the cells, which is the first time finding," Tebbi said. "Nobody has reported that before."
Dr. Cameron Tebbi showing materials used in testing potential vaccines for pediatric leukemia vaccines.
Tebbi explains that they’ve been able to study how fungi interact with genetics and cause cells to grow abnormally, leading to leukemia.
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He compares this to a bug infected with the virus.
"This bug is infected with that virus," Tebbi said. "So, we have got that virus and the bug together. We cultured it."
He says they’ve done numerous tests on dozens of children who have leukemia.
"We have found that a lot of children, actually everyone we have tested with leukemia, react to this bug," Tebbi said. "That means they have been exposed to it in the past."
Tebbi says no one particular environment is directly linked to this specific fungus, but fungi are generally more populous in environments with dense agriculture or forests.
He hopes they can continue building on this research to stop leukemia at its source.
Gunderman says a vaccine to prevent leukemia would be historic.
"Same thing as a discovery of a vaccine for polio," Gunderman said. "That saved millions of lives. This would save millions of families."
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Although these theories are still being developed and years of research remain, Tebbi says developing a vaccine against leukemia would be revolutionary.
Dr. Cameron Tebbi showing materials used in testing potential vaccines for pediatric leukemia vaccines.
"To do something to save children from going through all those treatments," Tebbi said. "I have witnessed the difficulties people go through getting treatment for every cancer, not just leukemia. Treatment of cancer in children or adults is not an easy task."
Tebbi says they’re working with Moffitt Cancer Center on some of the research and testing.
He says this research is a big financial investment and time-consuming commitment, but he hopes that in the coming years, they can get closer to developing a vaccine to prevent childhood leukemia.
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