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Posts Tagged ‘Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’
Early Cancer Detection Success Reaps Spirit Awards from Stanford Cancer Institute
December 12, 2012
Canary Founder Don Listwin Honored for Leadership in Early Detection of Cancer Research
Early detection of cancer research represents the heart and soul of our work. Last week, Stanford Cancer Institute bestowed two 2012 Spirit of Hope Awards upon Canary Foundation and on our founder, Don Listwin. We are so honored to be the recipient of this prestigious award, and are grateful for the opportunity to be publicly recognized for the work we do in the field of early detection.
“The commitment to identifying easy and affordable biomarkers to detect cancer when it is small is the driving force behind the work of Canary Foundation,” said Don. “Canary Foundation is honored to be recognized for this work. Within 10 years, we expect and hope to have the tools, technology, tests and the market to allow you to find cancer early where it is most curable.”
Our work is focused on funding scientific discovery into affordable early detection systems such as blood tests and ultrasound imaging in the fields of ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, breast and lung cancer.
“The major way we’re going to make an impact on cancer is early detection and we are thrilled to partner with Canary in this incredible enterprise,” said Stanford Cancer Institute Director Dr. Beverly Mitchell, MD, as she presented the two awards. More »
Canary Challenge Update: Did You Know…?
August 31, 2012
Cyclists who have been training (hopefully!) and fundraising for weeks will descend upon the campus of VMware in Palo Also to ride in the Canary Challenge 2012 in September. The Canary Challenge is one of the most picturesque rides on the west coast—going from the foothills of Palo Alto & Woodside, to Pescadero, out to the Pacific Ocean.
The Canary Challenge benefits the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) and 100% of funds raised will be donated to the SCI for cancer research and innovative clinical programs.
The one-day ride is a fully supported ride that includes great food, generous amenities, stocked rest stops, SAG vehicles, medical support, spirited festivities, and wine & beer garden, and a community of riders who have been touched one way or another by cancer. Learn more about the Canary Challenge on our website.
Some interesting facts about the Canary Challenge: Did You Know . . ?
- The male to female rider ratio this year is 2: 1. In 2011, it was 3:1. What an increase in women riders!
- The two biggest teams are Canary Chicks with 27 riders (4 male riders!) and Team Lauren (in support of LPCH) with 24 riders.
- A bake sale can raise a lot of money! Avaya The Power of WeTM team held a bake sale at their corporate headquarters during the lunch hour and raised $1,343 in 3 hours. More »
Peter Nelson on Canary’s Prostate Cancer Research Program
June 18, 2012
Peter Nelson, Prostate Cancer Team Leader at the Canary Center and researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, provides an overview of Canary’s Prostate Cancer Research Program. He talks about goals for the research program, explaining how researchers work on biomarkers that will determine if cancers are lethal vs. non lethal (aggressive vs. indolent). He also explains the Canary Tissue Microarray (TMA) Project, as well as giving an overview of what success looks like for the Canary Prostate Cancer Research Program.
Highlights from the 8th Annual Early Detection Symposium 2012
May 7, 2012
Canary Foundation held the Eighth Annual Early Detection Symposium at Stanford University on May 1, 2012. Nearly 200 participants came together to share their successes, challenges, and visions for the field of early detection of cancer. The conference session included updates from four Canary cancer teams (Lung, Ovary, Pancreas and Prostate) as well as presentations on innovative early detection research from across the country. Dr. Sam Gambhir, Director of the Canary Center at Stanford, described the goals of early detection in three key phrases:
- Identify patients that have cancer
- Isolate the location of the tumor
- Intervene effectively
Attendees heard from researchers working in all three of these areas.
Tackling the Challenge of Overdiagnosis
One of the challenges in identifying cancer patients is avoiding overtreatment. Dr. Ruth Etzioni of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, an expert on PSA screening, dissected
the recently released guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force stating that the harms of PSA-based screening for prostate cancer outweigh the benefits. Dr. Etzioni presented the case for “smart” PSA screening. Current PSA screening practice results in overdiagnosis and overtreatment of men with less aggressive disease. Smart screening strategies such as age-specific PSA cutoffs combined with biennial screening could potentially reduce the amount of overdiagnosis by one third while retaining the lives saved by annual screening. Smart screening coupled with active surveillance could be of great value in reducing mortality with a much more acceptable ratio of harm to benefit. More »
