ABOUT THE MIRANDA FUND
HERE IS A BRIEF HISTORY OF MIRANDA
Miranda Riley Boothe was born on March 15th, 2004 in Virginia Beach. From that day in March through the 2004
holidays Miranda grew and developed normally. Unfortunately, at that point, the story changes. Miranda is
currently battling an extremely rare and aggressive pediatric cancer known as Rhabdoid Tumor. Here is her story.
In January of 2005 Miranda’s parents noticed a slight fever and crankiness about her. They attributed this to
teething and growing pains. From the initial symptoms, the pediatrician believed Miranda had a urinary tract
infection and prescribed antibiotics.
For the next 2 weeks, there was no improvement, so blood tests were scheduled immediately, which were inconclusive.
She was then referred to a urologist, Dr. Gazak, at Presbyterian Medical Tower in Charlotte.
On March 18th, an ultrasound was performed along with a brief abdominal exam. Dr. Gazak determined that Miranda had
a malignant tumor in her abdomen. She was immediately admitted to the Hemby Children’s Hospital at Presbyterian
Hospital in Charlotte, NC.
After a CAT scan it was discovered the tumor had taken over her right kidney and was occupying over half of her
abdomen. There were also three small spots seen on her lungs. On March 19th at 9:00 a.m. Dr. Gazak and Dr. Morton
removed the tumor and the right kidney.
All believed Miranda’s tumor to be a Wilms’ tumor, which was seen as good news because Wilms’ tumor has a cure rate
of over 90%. The tumor was sent to pathology to verify the diagnosis of Wilms’. On March 23rd the histology came
back and unfortunately showed that Miranda had an extremely rare form of cancer called Rhabdoid tumor. Rhabdoid is
so rare the tumor was sent to a special pathology lab for verification. There are no known cases of Rhabdoid in
North Carolina.
Shortly after this diagnosis, the physicians ordered more tests and found a grape size tumor in Miranda’s brain
that was blocking the spinal fluid from circulating properly. On March 26th at 7:00 a.m. on Easter Sunday Dr.
Heafner performed a bypass for the fluid to go around the tumor in her brain. That procedure was successful and the
tumor in Miranda’s brain is being bypassed.
There is currently very little known about the Rhabdoid Tumor, other than it is resistant to chemotherapy and very
aggressive. The median age of kids afflicted is 11 months. It is usually found in the late stages of development
because the kids are unable to explain what they are feeling. The only symptoms are fever and crankiness, common
symptoms for many childhood ailments.
There are very few case studies with only around 115 documented cases since 1982. This makes it extremely difficult
to research as the pool of data is extremely small. Dr. Mark Mogul (Miranda’s oncologist) has contacted treatment
centers around the world for the latest information on Rhabdoid Tumor.
A physician from St. Judes has seen encouraging results from a new combination of chemotherapy drugs in treating
Rhabdoid Tumor. At the time of this writing three out of five children he is treating are tumor free two years after
chemotherapy treatments. These results are much better than previous regimens being used just a short time ago. The
drugs being used at St. Judes are readily available and Miranda is receiving the same regimen that has produced the
successes at St. Judes. Her chemotherapy is being administered locally at the Hemby Children’s Hospital in Charlotte,
NC. The treatments started on March 28th and are scheduled to continue for the next six months.
The family has no insurance, and needs help financially to get through this. The outpouring of support for Miranda has
been extraordinary. A group of business leaders in Charlotte, NC have started to organize "The Miranda Fund"
and are busy setting up fundraisers to help the Boothe family in their time of need, including The Miranda Fund Golf
Tournament to be held at Raintree Country Club on April 25th. A website, TheMirandaFund.org is currently being set up
and updates on Miranda and her family will be available there. The opportunity to participate in the fundraising effort
will be available online as well. Miranda’s Grandfather, Glen Boothe, is also organizing fundraising events in central
NY and information on their efforts will be available on the website also.
Miranda and "The Miranda Fund" represent hope, caring, charity, compassion, resilience, perseverance,
encouragement and faith. We know that Miranda will be a source of inspiration for kids and their families everywhere.