The son of former Chicago Bears running back Adrian Peterson, A.J. Peterson, has died of a rare brain cancer, the team announced. Peterson is a former NFL player, not to be confused with current Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson of the same name.
The seven-year-old A.J. was diagnosed with an inoperable brainstem tumor known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) last June, when he was six years old.
DIPG is a type of brain tumor found in the pons, part of the brainstem on the lower back of the brain, near the top of the spinal cord. DIPG primarily affects children, with most diagnoses occurring between 5 and 7 years of age. DIPG makes up 10-15% of all brain tumors in children, with about 100-150 new diagnoses per year in the United States and about 300 per year in all of North America and Europe. Unlike many other pediatric cancers, there has been little progress in improving treatments and cure rates for DIPG over the last few decades. Unfortunately, fewer than 10% of children with DIPG survive two years from diagnosis.
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Peterson and his wife, Angela, said on a GoFundMe page started in June to help fund the doctor orders that doctors gave A.J. a prognosis of a five to nine percent survival rate.