Research for Rare Childhood Cancers

Axel’s Army is committed to funding critical research for rare childhood cancers — especially those that are underfunded and urgently in need of new treatment options.

With a focus on Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma and relapsed disease, our mission is to help create more time, more options, and more hope for children and families facing the unimaginable.

Every dollar raised moves us closer to a future where fewer families have to hear the words we once did.
This is how Axel’s fight continues — through every breakthrough still to come.

Why Rare Childhood Cancer Research Matters

Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) is an aggressive and rare form of childhood cancer that affects only a small number of children each year — which is exactly why research funding is so limited.

While childhood cancer research as a whole receives only a fraction of overall cancer funding, rare pediatric cancers like ARMS often receive even less attention, fewer clinical trials, and far fewer treatment advancements.

For families facing relapsed disease, options can become painfully limited.
Children like Axel deserve more than outdated treatments and impossible odds.
They deserve urgency, innovation, and the chance for more time.

Our Research Partnership

Axel’s Army is proud to support the work being done at the Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute (cc-TDI) in Oregon alongside pediatric cancer researcher and physician Dr. Charles Keller.

Dr. Keller is a nationally recognized pediatric oncologist, scientist, and leader in rare childhood cancer research. Throughout his career, he has dedicated his work to advancing treatments for aggressive pediatric cancers — particularly sarcomas.

As the founder of cc-TDI, Dr. Keller and his team focus on accelerating the development of better, less toxic therapies for children facing cancers that too often receive limited funding and far too few treatment options.

Their work combines laboratory research, drug development, and translational science — helping move promising discoveries closer to real treatment opportunities for children and families who urgently need them. A major focus of their work includes Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, the aggressive cancer Axel battled.

For Axel’s Army, this partnership is deeply personal.
Our goal is simple: to help accelerate the research that gives children facing rare pediatric cancers new treatment options, renewed hope, and more time.

The Axel Fellow

One of the immediate goals of Axel’s Army is helping fund an “Axel Fellow” through cc-TDI —
supporting dedicated research time focused on advancing treatment options for Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma…in Axel’s name.

Through the Axel Fellow program, donations directly support ongoing scientific work dedicated to finding better answers, better treatments, and more hope for families facing the unimaginable.
As funding grows, so does the impact — allowing more research time, stronger collaboration, and greater momentum toward future breakthroughs of Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma.

For Axel.
For the children still fighting.
For the breakthroughs still ahead.