Hope for Alexander: A Family’s Mission to Change Childhood Cancer Treatment

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) –  Imagine explaining to your child that he or she has cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), more than 15,000 children and teenagers are diagnosed with the disease each year in the United States. One Chicago family with roots in Chattanooga experienced this diagnosis firsthand.

Meet 6-year-old Alexander Brown, his sister Charlotte, mom Christy, and dad Matt. This family has been through a lot in the past few years. This sweet, energetic little boy was diagnosed with cancer in 2023. The family was on vacation in Florida when the unexpected happened. Christy Brown, Alexander’s mother says, “That’s when our lives were turned upside down. They found a 4.2 cm mass, never in a million years did we think something like this could happen to us.” The family was faced with a lot of difficult decisions while Alexander tackled his treatment.  “When we first found out about Alexander’s diagnosis, I had no clue about this world and from the minute we started to meet other families, I was raised in Chattanooga, and we did fundraisers and I don’t think I fully understood or could appreciate what St. Jude did or the what the Ronald McDonald House did that this is so much bigger than us,” said Christy.

The family spent the last few years documenting Alexander’s journey, giving hope to other families facing a cancer diagnosis. “For all the unluckiness he is lucky to be getting treatment now… than he was 5 or 10 years ago, he has got a better chance now than he would at any point in the past…and that is because of all the research that has been done,” said Matt Brown, Alexander’s dad. The Brown family believes the more research that is done, the more hope is given to families with children battling cancer. “The more attention that can be paid to it…the more resources that can be devoted to it the more smart people that can be devoted to it the better the outcomes can get,” said Matt. “It’s my heart it’s my pocketbook, it’s my mind, we need to get the politics out of it and really focus on this research,” said Congressman Chuck Fleischmann. The Brown family recently traveled to Washington to visit congressional offices, talking to lawmakers about funding and policy.   We spoke to the family about a bill called “Give Kids a Chance”, a very important piece of legislation dealing with pediatric cancer. “The bill that has been brought up before and its achieved bipartisan support lots and lots of representatives have signed on to it. It’s a measure we have high hopes for a bill that in the testing of drugs for childhood cancer that right now can only be tested for adult cancers,” said Matt.  “It’s going to allow. Compel the FDA to move faster, we want safe drugs, it bothers me when there is someone out there that has terminal cancer and can’t get the drug treatment,” said Fleischmann. Representative Fleischmann says there have only been 7 new cancer drugs released in the last 3 decades. “Most of the cancers now that children are being treated with are with drugs that were approved 30 years ago,” said Fleischmann. The Brown Family is hoping to change that, with Washington’s support. “In a town that is often in need of a bipartisan agreement this I think is an issue that a lot of people can agree upon and as long as it gets enough momentum, I think it stands a chance,” said Matt. A chance to help kids like Alexander, live full lives. “He is the example of what kids can be with the good treatments they can look forward to long healthy lives, bringing the happiness of children to the world and he is the poster child for how unfair childhood cancer is but at the same time he is an illustration of what children should be able to look forward to,” said Matt.