Thursday, October 1, 2026
Representative Laura Gillen is calling on the Trump administration and National Cancer Institute to reverse proposed cuts to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, warning that the decision would halt vital clinical trials and leave families with no treatment options.
“These cuts would deny children access to therapies that may be their only chance at survival,” she said at a news conference on Sept. 25, “and abruptly canceling this funding will throw ongoing trials into uncertainty and leave families wondering what the future holds for their children.”
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, founded in 1999, is a network of 16 hospitals conducting early-phase trials for children with deadly brain tumors. In August, the Trump administration announced that the National Cancer Institute, which is the federal government's agency for cancer research, will no longer fund the PBTC starting in March 2026.
Dr. Ira Dunkel, the chair of PBTC and an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said the consortium has enrolled more than 2,000 patients and launched over 70 trials during its existence and now has to halt its work.
“We were informed that we would not have the opportunity to apply for continued funding,” Dunkel said. “We are not able to accept any patients onto our six currently active clinical trials.”
David Arons, CEO of the National Brain Tumor Society, said nearly 4,000 people have signed a petition urging NCI to reverse its decision, found at BrainTumor.org.
“We believe the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium should continue and and the National Cancer Institute should work to improve it, not eliminate it,” he said. “It's a vital part of our cancer ecosystem.”
Brain tumors are one of the most common types of pediatric cancer, according to the World Health Organization.
Gillian Okimoto, a survivor of pediatric cancer, credited research with saving her life and warned of the human cost of cuts.
“It's scary for me as someone who has friends in clinical trials, and it's terrifying for any family that has had a kid diagnosed with cancer," she said.
Gillen vowed to lead a bipartisan push to restore funding, saying, “This is not a partisan issue. It is about our children. It is about American families and the fundamental values that we share.”
