‘The rug has been pulled out from under us’: Cancer research funding turmoil leaves families scrambling

Video Ad Feedback Cancer patients face harrowing uncertainty due to changes in research funding. 3:38 - Source: CNN

Cancer patients face harrowing uncertainty due to changes in research funding. 3:38 Boston —

For two years, 5-year-old Juliette Lesko has battled an incurable form of brain cancer, ependymoma. After enduring two brain surgeries, 30 sessions of radiation and two relapses, she is now being treated with an experimental drug, though it is unclear whether it is working.

The Leskos won’t know until Juliette receives another brain scan, scheduled for later this month. If it shows the tumor has grown, “it means the treatment is not working. We need to try something new and we need to try it fast,” her father, Jim Lesko, told CNN.

But just as he was preparing to inq