Fundraising in memory of a football-mad schoolboy from Enfield has supported new research into the type of cancer he died from.
Six-year-old Sam Jahanshahi passed away from acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in June 2023, having only been diagnosed in the days before his death.
Determined to help other children and their families in the future, his parents, Catherine and Kambiz, set up a Special Named Fund called A Goal for Sam, at Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) to raise funds for much-needed research into AML.
Catherine said: “Sam was a very happy and healthy six-year-old boy, full of life and laughter, looking forward to his seventh birthday. He loved dressing up as a whole host of superheroes, playing football and rugby and he enjoyed making people laugh.
“Sam was only ill for a little over a week before he died and during this time, he was twice misdiagnosed. Leukaemia came from nowhere, with no warning, and left no time for a proper treatment plan.
“We now know that if he’d been able to start treatment, it would have heavily degraded his quality of life and had limited prospects of success. We want A Goal for Sam to help identify kinder and more effective treatments that will give children much better chances of survival.”
Since July 2023, A Goal for Sam has raised over £30,000 for research into AML. Now, along with another CCLG Special Named Fund called #teamkai, Catherine, Kambiz and their supporters have helped fund vital new research. The project is led by Dr Juliana Fabiana Miranda from the University of York.
Kambiz talked about the new project and the fantastic response of their community: “Sam’s sudden death shocked the community. Contributing towards A Goal for Sam was one way in which people could honour him.
“Sam’s rugby club, Southgate RFC, and his school, Walker Primary School, have been instrumental.
“Most touching of all was that some of Sam’s friends decided to ask for donations to A Goal for Sam instead of birthday presents. We would never have encouraged this but will never forget it.
“Funding this project is a step towards being able to understand why Sam developed this cruel and aggressive illness. It means that Sam will play a part in improving outcomes for children with AML in the future.”
Dr Miranda’s project, titled 'Studying the origins of childhood acute myeloid leukaemia to identify targets for kinder and more effective treatments', starts in June.
She said: “Children with AML are currently given toxic and inefficient treatments. This means their quality of life ends up significantly decreased. This project aims to identify less toxic and more effective treatments by using state-of-the-art technology to analyse the proteins found in cancer cells."
In her project, Dr Miranda will use leukaemia samples provided by the VIVO Biobank, as part of a new collaboration between the biobank and CCLG. The biobank, co-funded by Cancer Research UK and Blood Cancer UK, stores the majority of children’s and young people’s cancer samples in the UK and the new partnership bypasses the need for researchers to collect cancer samples, allowing them to dedicate more time and funding to carrying out meaningful research.
Dr Miranda look at all the proteins and genetic molecules present in different patients’ cancer cells, and then, she hopes to identify which are essential for leukaemia survival.
She added: “The new funding will help develop new methods of investigating patient cancer samples. This will help identify new treatments and screen new targets for paediatric AML treatment.
“The results from this will provide insights which will aid future research. For example, it could help researchers predict the severity of a patient's cancer or decide which treatment to give.”
Ashley Ball-Gamble, CEO of CCLG, said: “We’re proud to support this important research project through our collaboration with the VIVO Biobank. By providing essential resources and funding to early career researchers like Dr Miranda, we are investing in the future of childhood cancer.
“This project holds promise for the development of less toxic and more effective AML treatments. It will provide a solid foundation for future research, with the potential to lead to better childhood cancer care.”