As she helps families deal with their children’s cancer diagnoses, Dr. Margaret MacMillan was reminded of one of her most important roles as a pediatric oncologist – to offer hope for her patients and their families. “It truly is all about hope. None of us has any guarantees in life, but we keep persevering in everything we are doing as long as there is hope,” she says.

Dr. MacMillan offers hope to her patients in a powerful way -- by conducting
cancer research. She’s a specialist in blood and bone marrow transplantation – an evolving field of medicine – so virtually all of her patients are enrolled in clinical trials. She designs and leads studies, and children come from all over the country to be treated in the clinical trials at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. MacMillan’s patients and their families understand that clinical trials are a promising opportunity when the standard therapy isn’t an option. It’s a message she wants to share with others as a member of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope™ Team. “The major advances in treatment for cancer have come from clinical trials,” she says. “I want to engage people who otherwise may not know about these issues.”

Treatment for childhood cancers has made tremendous strides over the past 30 years, and the cure rate for children is now approaching 75 percent. Nationwide, 60 percent of pediatric cancer patients enroll in clinical trials.

“Now the odds of survival are so much better, because of clinical trials,” Dr. MacMillan says. “As a cancer researcher, I believe increasing public awareness about the importance of clinical trials will increase enrollment, which can lead to the best therapy for patients.”