Caroline Lantz was just 4 years old when doctors in Nashville diagnosed her with stage four neuroblastoma, a solid tumor cancer that would return to threaten her life three more times over the next nine years. Now 13, she has endured chemotherapy, radiation, a stem cell transplant, and a nine-hour surgery, and she has missed so much school that she was held back a grade — yet she has spent much of that time turned outward, advocating for more pediatric cancer research funding rather than retreating from public view.
Her story, first reported by News Channel 5 Nashville, traces four separate neuroblastoma diagnoses and a litany of treatments that have shaped nearly her entire childhood. Her longtime pediatric oncologist, Dr. Brianna Smith, described her to the station as an inspirational person and an advocate for pediatric cancer, adding that better drugs, treatments, immunotherapy and options are needed for pediatric cancer patients. Caroline's father, Mark Lantz, told the outlet that cancer has caused his daughter to miss many childhood moments, but that a cure will come and that children currently fighting cancer need to reach that point.
A Rare Fight at an Uncommon Age
Neuroblastoma itself is uncommon: the American Cancer Society reports it is diagnosed in roughly 700 to 800 children nationwide each year, representing about 7% to 8% of all pediatric cancer cases. What makes Caroline's case especially unusual is her age — the American Cancer Society notes that about 90% of neuroblastoma cases are diagnosed in children before age 5, with a median diagnosis age between 1 and 2 years, meaning an ongoing battle in a 13-year-old is statistically rare and points to the aggressive nature of relapsed high-risk disease.
That rarity carries grim odds. Research led by Penn State Health indicates that about 40% of pediatric high-risk neuroblastoma patients who reach initial remission relapse within four years, and fewer than 10% of those who relapse survive five additional years. Neuroblastoma still has no cure, according to the seed reporting, which is part of why relapse prevention has become such an urgent focus for researchers treating patients like Caroline.
A New Treatment and a Global Trial Network
According to the station's report, Caroline's cancer is now responding to a new treatment after she participated in several clinical trials — trials she hopes will help future children diagnosed with cancer, even as she continues sharing her own story as a form of advocacy. Those trials were administered through the Beat Childhood Cancer Research Consortium, a global network of more than 50 universities and children's hospitals that led the clinical studies resulting in FDA approval of the drug DFMO, per a Facebook post referencing the consortium's work.
That drug, known by its generic name eflornithine and marketed as IWILFIN, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2023 as the first oral maintenance therapy specifically designed to reduce relapse risk in high-risk neuroblastoma patients, according to Penn State Health. Clinical trial data submitted for approval showed the therapy reduced the risk of relapse by 52% and the risk of death by 68% over four years compared to external control groups, per MUSC Children's Health. Relapse remains the leading cause of mortality in pediatric neuroblastoma, making that breakthrough central to the same fight Caroline has waged since childhood.
An Ambassador for Nashville's Children's Hospital
Caroline has served as a child ambassador for Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt through the Iroquois Steeplechase, the Nashville horse race held annually at Percy Warner Park. Since designating Monroe Carell as its primary charity beneficiary in 1981, the Iroquois Steeplechase has donated more than $12 million to support pediatric medical care and cancer research, according to the race's own accounting. The hospital operates the region's only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Tennessee treating pediatric, adolescent, and adult patients, and it continues to accept donations supporting pediatric cancer research.
Caroline's advocacy outside the hospital has taken other forms too. In December 2022, Tractor Supply Company granted then-9-year-old Caroline a holiday shopping spree in Franklin, Tennessee, which she chose to redirect toward buying food and supplies for Heaven Can Wait Animal Rescue & Sanctuary, according to Retail TouchPoints. Federal cancer research funding for pediatric cancer sits at just 4% of the overall total, per the seed reporting — a gap Caroline has pointed to directly in urging greater investment.
Progress Against a Persistent Funding Gap
The broader picture for childhood cancer survival has improved dramatically over the decades. National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society data show overall five-year survival rates for childhood cancer have climbed from about 58% in the mid-1970s to nearly 85% today, gains largely credited to expanded clinical trial participation. But high-risk solid tumors like neuroblastoma remain a stubborn exception, where federal funding is limited and relapses still carry steep mortality risk.
Despite nearly a decade of hospital stays, painful treatments, and uncertainty, Caroline has maintained hope, according to the station's account. She has said she believes a child watching her continue to fight might feel encouraged to keep fighting too — the same message she carries as she shares her story and pushes for the research funding she says is still badly needed.
