Fund the dreams that lead to breakthroughs.
Current Initiatives.
The Cancer League funds research, early detection, education and patient care programs. The 2022-2023 funding cycle was our most successful cycle yet! Because of the generosity of our donor community, we were able to fund a record-breaking 14 grants. The Cancer League funds research, early detection, education and patient care programs. Our 2023 applicant pool was incredibly impressive, full of breakthrough research studies, thoughtful treatments and supportive patient services. We are thrilled to introduce you to some of our 2022-2023 grant recipients below.
At UCSF, Elliot Steiglitz, MD is researching a break-through treatment for juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML), a rare type of childhood leukemia typically diagnosed in children 2 to 4-years-old. Dr. Steiglitz hopes to use CAR-T cells to recognize and bind with surface antigens on JMML cells, creating a highly targeted and effective treatment therapy that will improve the outcomes of the youngest and most vulnerable cancer patients.
Using the Immune System to Treat Infant Leukemia.
Saving Lives by Detecting Therapy Responses Faster.
At Stanford, Alice Fan, MD is shortening the time frame required to determine if a cancer therapy is effective, enabling providers to save lives by finding the right therapy faster. Most patients only receive 2 types of therapies during their treatment, as the current approach to measuring a change in tumor size requires waiting until 3 months after treatment. Dr. Fan’s research will combine evaluation of cytokines in the blood (small proteins that send signals to cancer cells) and novel imaging techniques, at earlier time points, to give these patients more effective treatment options, faster.
Reimaging HER2 Receptors in Urothelial Cancer.
At UCSF, doctors Xiaolin Zhu and Vadim Koshkin are building a genomic profile of bladder and urinary tract tumors that will help predict a patient’s response to HER2 targeted therapies. HER2 is currently a very successful treatment for breast and GI cancers, but instead of being amplified, it is mutated or altered in urothelial cancer tumors. This genomic profile will help determine the clinical impact of the alterations of HER2, enabling providers to choose the right drug, for the right patient, at the right time.
Developing Biomarkers for Immunotherapy.
At Stanford, Dr. Renumathy Dhanasekaran, MD is building on her research from last year’s Cancer League grant. She has found great success thus far in developing a non-invasive biomarker that helps predict a patient’s response to immunotherapy. This year, she will use CODEX to see if the information about which patients will respond to immunotherapy can be codified in the spatial location and interactions of the immune cell. Deciphering this is key to identifying the right patient for immunotherapy.
Interrogating Cellular Crosstalk in Human Brain Metastasis.
At UCSF, Hugo Velozo Gonzalez, PhD is working to further understand and recreate complex cellular circuits linked to metastasis formation in brain cancer(BrMs). Dr. Velozo’s groundbreaking research will study tumor-host interactions in BrMs by assembling tumor organoids from brain tumors and stem cells to build a multicellular 3D co-culture.
Navigating Long-Term Care of Childhood Survivors.
At UCSF, Robert Goldsby, MD is integrating the benefits of mobile applications into long-term cancer care with the development of The Survivor App. By creating an individualized, consolidated and easily retrievable summary of a patient’s cancer history, users, particularly childhood survivors, can better manage their long-term follow-up care across providers and time horizons. This transparency empowers cancer survivors with the information they need to stay healthier, for longer.
Improving Clinical Trial Diversity.
Lazarex Cancer Foundation bridges the financial, emotional and physical gap between cancer patients and the clinical trials they wish to participate in. For patients who qualify for these trials but cannot financially or logistically afford to participate, Lazarex CARE program grants access to this care by providing assistance with clinical trial navigation, reimbursing trial related travel costs, and partnering with at-risk communities to mobilize much needed resources. Lazarex is a publicly funded charity and has served over 7,000 patients in cancer clinical trials with the goal of improving cancer health outcomes and clinical trial diversity and enrollment.
Healing Meals for Health.
Culinary Angels is a mostly-volunteer organization that provides organic, healthy meals to people going through a cancer challenge. Meals are delivered at no cost throughout much of the East Bay to both cancer patients and their caregivers. Their goal is to deliver nutrient-dense meals and nutrition education to underserved individuals throughout the community. Since their launch in 2016, Culinary Angels has prepared and delivered over 9,500 meals to those in need and utilizes 45-50 volunteers every week executing this effort.