In 1962, Tosh was diagnosed with childhood Hodgkin lymphoma as a 13-year-old. At the time, a diagnosis of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer, was assumed to be fatal. In the United States alone, 6,000 to 7,000 cases of Hodgkin lymphoma are diagnosed annually. Today, because of the groundbreaking work at St. Jude, the current cure rate is between 90-95% for children.
"I'm grateful for the opportunities I have had," Tosh said. "I never want to get so busy that I forget why I'm able to live the life that I'm able to live. If there is anything I can do to prevent some mom or dad from having to say goodbye to their child, then I stand ready to do that."
In 2007, Tosh became the first patient to enroll in St. Jude LIFE, an unprecedented research effort that studies the health of more than 5,000 St. Jude survivors in an effort to assist the way clinicians understand the late effects of cancer and treatment. The goal of St. Jude LIFE is to improve the quality of life for survivors and inform future advances in treatment.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 60 years ago. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. To learn more, visit stjude.org or follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.
