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THE CAUSE
"Rare" cancers are far more prevalent than the term implies, yet research on many of these cancers is drastically underfunded.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines a rare disease as one with a prevalence of fewer than 200,000 in the United States. However, hundreds of different cancers are classified as "rare," and, in the aggregate, they affect millions of people. Download the fact sheet.
The Facts:
- More than half of all cancers are classified as “rare.”
- Among those cancers classified as “rare” are such well-known forms of the disease as pancreatic cancer, sarcoma, uterine cancer, cervical cancer, brain cancer, metastatic melanoma, gall bladder cancer, and stomach cancer.
- All pediatric cancers are categorized as “rare.”
- The number of cases of rare cancers has been steadily increasing.
- Rare cancers may yield some of the keys to the treatment of other more prevalent forms of cancer, making the need for research funding even more important for all cancer patients.
The Challenge:
- Rare cancers attract fewer research dollars than do more common forms of the disease, which results in fewer opportunities to gain new insights and make new discoveries.
- In general, there are fewer treatment options for rare cancers, since funding for drug development often lags behind more commercially viable drugs.
You can help this vital cause by supporting Cycle for Survival.
How Your Support Helps
Cycle for Survival has funded a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan-Kettering resulting in a new chemotherapy regimen that has proven more effective at shrinking tumors in patients.
Proceeds from the 2009 event have been allocated to fund:
- 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.
Donate Now
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