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Cancer Breakthroughs:The Pink Polka Dots Guild

by By / KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on August 15, 2009 at 1:59 PM

Updated Monday, Sep 21 at 11:31 AM

Video: Cancer Breakthroughs: The Pink Polka Dots Guild

In Lake Forest Park, a group of girls figured out how to fight cancer and honor their friend, Sydney Coxon, who died of a brain tumor.

It was a shock to kids so young.

After Sydney's death, the girls bonded together to form a fund raising group called the "Pink Polka Dots Guild."

Sydney loved anything pink. She had pink fuzzy sweaters and pink purses and pink shoes. And polka dots were one of her favorite things.

From hand made cards to golf tournaments, the guild makes money in memory of their friend.

And they donate it to Dr. James Olson of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, who they believe will one day cure kids with cancer, but in a very creepy way - by using venom from a scorpion!

"It really is the perfect drug because the scorpions needed it to be a perfect drug. They need a drug that can float through the blood stream, find its target, get into the brain and act," said Dr. Olson.

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In his lab at the hutch, Dr. Olson found venom from the "death stalker scorpion" can illuminate brain cancer cells like never before.

For a surgeon in the operating room, this can be the difference between night and day.

"And so we really need to give the surgeons an additional tool to make the cancer cell light up. So they can see exactly where it is, they can find small bits of tumor that might otherwise be left behind," said Dr. Olson.

Dr. Olson hopes his futuristic idea will become commonplace in brain tumor surgery and eventually the detection of all cancer.

But more research takes more money. For that, Dr. Olson has plenty of support from The Pink Polka Dots Guild.

"I think we have raised almost $100,000 but we really want to raise a million dollars some day," said one member.

Dr. Olson says while developing his "tumor paint," he discovered it works for most other cancers, too.

He imagines some day simply taking a "tumor-paint pill" and then scanning the body to see what cancer cells light up.

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