Cycle for Survival, Rare Cancer Research
November 12, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
As many as half of all cancers diagnosed in the US are classified as rare cancers, yet when you look at the total number of people affected by these hundreds of rare cancers, they don’t seem so rare after all. However, scientists have more trouble attracting funding for rare cancers like pancreatic, uterine, gall bladder, stomach, cervical, brain and all pediatric cancers. You likely know someone who has been affected by a rare cancer.
One way to help is by getting involved with Cycle for Survival, an indoor team cycling fundraiser to raise funding for rare cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The event was founded by Jennifer Goodman Linn, who is also a rare cancer survivor and patient at MSKCC. She’s also a Harvard Business School graduate and dynamic marketing executive. The Cycle for Survival campaign has already raised more than $2 million dollars since 2007.
Cycle for Survival funds were used for a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan-Kettering that resulted in a new chemotherapy regimen proven more effective at shrinking tumors in patients. Funds from the 2009 Cycle for Survival have been allocated for the following research:
- Two clinical trials to test drugs that block certain pathways that keep sarcoma cells alive, with the goal of finding new ways to destroy these cancer cells.
- A research project that focuses on a new way to treat a type of rare cancer by changing the pattern of genes turned on and off.
- A study aimed at gaining new insights into the biology of a specific type of rare tumor.
- An investigation to identify and develop drugs that block the growth of pancreatic cancer cells.
Registration is open for Cycle for Survival 2010, to be held in two locations in New York City on January 31, 2010, and in Chicago on February 6. Out-of-town participants can register to ride on satellite teams with flexible dates. To register online, visit the Cycle for Survival website. If you don’t want to cycle, you can still donate to help with rare cancer research.
(Image via Cycle for Survival)
