Three-year-old boy needs urgent proton therapy for brain cancer

Fontanka and the Rusfond charity are jointly raising funds for seriously ill children, including toddler Tyoma who has a malignant brain tumor.

Feb 7, 2026

The three-year-old boy has undergone multiple surgeries and chemotherapy and now requires urgent proton therapy to eliminate the remaining tumor.
Source:
family archive

Three-year-old Tyoma Generozov was diagnosed with a malignant embryonal brain tumor. The boy has already undergone two operations and several courses of chemotherapy, but the cancer cells have not been completely destroyed. To finally remove the remnants of the tumor, proton therapy is needed, and it must be carried out as soon as possible. However, in the St. Petersburg center that is ready to begin treatment, there are no state quotas for the current year; their distribution is not expected until February. Tyoma does not have time to wait that long.

The cost of the necessary proton therapy is 4,237,950 rubles (about $47,100 at current rates).

The child«s father, Alexander Generozov from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, says: »My son was growing up healthy and active, rarely sick. However, last summer after a walk, Tyoma suddenly started vomiting, his coordination was impaired, and his eye began to squint. The doctors prescribed anti-infective treatment, but it only got worse: his left eye would no longer open, convulsions began, my son lost consciousness.

In the hospital, a CT scan revealed a huge brain tumor. An urgent operation was required, otherwise Tyoma could have died. The histology results confirmed the worst fears: my son has cancer.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to remove the entire tumor, and it began to grow again. In August, Tyoma was operated on again, then he underwent five blocks of chemotherapy and two stem cell transplants. The treatment was difficult, but the tumor has significantly decreased in size.

Now it must be destroyed completely, for which proton irradiation is required. The doctors at the St. Petersburg proton center are ready to start therapy in the coming days, but unfortunately, the clinic does not yet have state quotas, and Tyoma cannot wait. We cannot afford the treatment on our own. Please, save my son!«

Konstantin Boyko, head of the pediatric oncology department at the Sergei Berezin Medical Institute Proton Therapy Center in St. Petersburg, explains: «Tyoma has an embryonal (malignant) tumor with multilayered rosettes in the parietal-occipital and right occipital region, status post chemotherapy and tumor removal. Now the boy needs local proton radiation therapy. Unlike conventional radiation, proton therapy will affect only the area of the removed tumor, without affecting the surrounding tissues. The risk of side effects and recurrence is minimal.»

Help can be provided by contacting Rusfond. Contact information:

8-800-250-75-25 (free call within Russia, charitable line from MTS)
Tel./fax (495) 926-35-63
Address: 125315, Moscow, P.O. Box 110
Email: rusfond@rusfond.ru
In St. Petersburg: 8-921-424-27-12, spb@rusfond.ru
Head of the bureau in St. Petersburg — Anna Brusilova
Website: rusfond.ru/spb

Rusfond (Russian Relief Fund) is one of the country«s largest charitable foundations, established in 1996. Its mission includes helping in the treatment of seriously ill children and promoting the introduction of high medical technologies. The foundation systematically publishes appeals for help in the media, including Kommersant and rusfond.ru. In St. Petersburg, the partners are Fontanka.ru and VESTI St. Petersburg.