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Kennebunk Boy, Now A Cancer Survivor, Becomes 'real-life Superhero,' Helping Others

KENNEBUNK, Maine — Jackson Kalbhenn loves Spider-Man and many of the other Marvel superheroes.

This is an appropriate thing to share first about Jackson because here's what you should know about him: just like Spidey, he too has a superpower.

He is a cancer survivor, and now, at age 7, he is doing what Spider-Man, Iron Man and all those other Marvel icons do: he's helping people.

Jackson Kalbhenn and his mother, Martine, of Kennebunk, Maine, are teaming up to raise funds and awareness in the fight against Ewing Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer that mostly affects children and young people. Jackson is a survivor of the cancer and is now doing well.

Jackson, his mother, Martine, his father, Kyle, and his older sister, Sofia, have joined forces in the fight against Ewing sarcoma, the rare bone cancer that mostly affects children and young people. Jackson was diagnosed with the disease after doctors discovered it after he had a bad fall and experienced excruciating pain in one of his legs when he was just 2 years ago.

And now? Five years later?

Come April 12, Jackson will be cancer-free for one whole year. Come April 22, it will make one year since he rang the bell – a milestone and tradition cancer survivors know well.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Ewing sarcoma "most often begins in the leg bones and the pelvis, but it can happen in any bone. Less often, it starts in the soft tissues of the chest, abdomen, arms or other locations."

About 1% of all childhood cancers are Ewing tumors, according to the American Cancer Society. Approximately 200 children and teenagers are diagnosed with Ewing tumors in the United States each year.

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Jackson and his family are ambassadors for St. Baldrick's Foundation, a California-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to "supporting the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives," according to its website.

The nonprofit, incidentally, is not associated with a saint of the Catholic Church but is instead a play on words stemming from a head-shaving fundraiser that the organization held once on St. Patrick's Day.

Bald. Rick. Saint Baldrick.

The organization raised more than $22 million in 2024 and so far, this year has raised close to $10 million.

The Kalbhenn family also has a website dedicated to their efforts: jcstrongfund.Com. St. Baldrick's Foundation manages the fund, according to Martine. On social media, you can follow the fund on Instagram (@jcstrong_ewingsfund) and Facebook (JC Strong Fund).

In the year since he was declared cancer-free, Jackson has served as the "anthem hero" during a Sea Dogs baseball game at Hadlock Field in Portland. He carried out the ceremonial tee-off for the local "Drive Fore Kids" golf tournament, the primary beneficiary of which is the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital. He has attended a photo shoot for the Oliver Patch Project, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering children who are battling cancer and other illnesses. He also has traveled to Washington, DC, to meet with representatives of Maine's lawmakers to advocate for more funding for Ewing sarcoma research.

And, perhaps most importantly, he has enjoyed the life of an everyday, elementary school-aged boy. In addition to those Marvel superheroes, Jackson also likes Pokemon and Sonic the Hedgehog.

"He played baseball, soccer and just finished basketball in his post-treatment life," Martine said.

The Kalbhenns moved to Kennebunk from California in March of 2020. Three years later, on July 28, 2023, Jackson and his family were out west, visiting relatives, when he experienced the fall that ultimately revealed the bone cancer in his left fibula to doctors.

He spent 69 nights in the hospital over eight months of treatment, according to Martine. He went through 14 cycles of aggressive chemotherapy – an outdated form, thus the need for more funding, Martine added. Jackson also underwent resection surgery to remove not just the tumor but the top half of his fibula. As well, Jackson had 16 blood transfusions and three platelet transfusions.

Lots of people, when they are diagnosed with a disease, naturally ask, "Why me?" At the tender age of a single digit, Jackson asked only once why he had to get cancer, according to his mother.

"He knew he needed to get the cancer out of him and did what had to be done with very little complaining, despite not liking the pokes and shots," Martine said. "He is our real-life superhero."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunk boy, now a cancer survivor, becomes a 'real-life superhero'

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City Of Hope Opens Trial To Test Bone Medication For Early Type 1 Diabetes Treatment

The study explores whether denosumab, a widely used therapy for osteoporosis and bone tumors, can regenerate beta cells, which produce insulin

City of Hope, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a top research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, is leading a phase 1/2 clinical trial investigating an osteoporosis medication as a way to improve beta cell health in people with early type 1 diabetes.

The study, which is now open, will explore whether denosumab, a human monoclonal antibody that is Food and Drug Administration-approved for the treatment of osteoporosis and bone tumors, can protect and regenerate beta cells, which produce insulin to regulate blood sugar, in type 1 diabetes patients.

Type 1 diabetes arises when a person's immune system destroys beta cells, and they no longer make the needed amount of insulin to stay healthy. However, in the early stages of type 1 diabetes, some beta cells are still alive and functioning.

The phase 1/2, randomized, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of denosumab for improving beta cell function and blood sugar control among patients with early type 1 diabetes, who continue to make some insulin.

"This is an exciting new application of a known medication that, in addition to potentially protecting and/or expanding the beta cells that remain in early type 1 diabetes patients, might also be able to help other patients with diabetes to increase beta cell number and/or function," said Fouad R. Kandeel, M.D., Ph.D., the Arthur D. Riggs Distinguished Chair in Diabetes & Metabolism Research at City of Hope and the trial's co-principal investigator.

"We are actively working to enroll qualified patients and look forward to seeing where this trial leads us."

In the bone, denosumab works by inhibiting a protein called RANKL (Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor Kapp-B Ligand), blocking its interaction with the receptor RANK, thereby reducing bone damage.

"We have found that the same RANKL/RANK pathway can destroy beta cells," said Rupangi Vasavada, Ph.D., City of Hope associate professor in the Department of Translational Research & Cellular Therapeutics and the trial's co-principal investigator. "Previous studies in our lab by Nagesha Guthalu Kondegowda, Ph.D. Have shown that denosumab can inhibit this detrimental pathway and improve beta cell health by protecting, increasing the number and/or improving the function of beta cells."

By protecting and preserving beta cell function, the medication could slow down the progression of type 1 diabetes and improve blood sugar control.

Primary funding for this clinical trial comes from Breakthrough T1D, formerly JDRF, the leading global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization. The trial is also funded by and part of The Wanek Family Project for Type 1 Diabetes at City of Hope, which seeks to find cures for the disease.

Patients are being recruited at City of Hope in the Los Angeles area and at two other locations: University of Alabama at Birmingham (led by Anath Shalev, M.D.) and Indiana University (led by Carmella Evans-Molina, M.D., Ph.D.). Participants must be adults, ages 18 to 50, with early type 1 diabetes, who are less than five years from initial diagnosis and have residual beta cell function.

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