We donated $85,000 to research initiatives in 2018!

Research Funding – Sorafenib

The DFC team is pleased to announce, that money raised from our Second Annual DFC Fundraising Event on May 3rd, 2018, has been used to fund leading edge research focused on a targeted drug treatment called Sorafenib, for desmoid tumours.

The medical advisory panel reviewed three different proposals and unanimously decided to fund, “The role of the tumour microenvironment in S45F desmoid tumor chemotherapeutic resistance”, by Dr. Raphael E. Pollock at Ohio State University.

Thanks to your generous support, we have funded $85,000 CDN.

Dr. Pollock’s abstract below is very exciting because through his research we will better understand why Sorafenib works in desmoids.

Another Sorafenib Desmoid Tumour Study, has been named by ASCO as one of the top breakthroughs in Oncology in 2018. Named as an “Advance of the Year”, the desmoid study is showcased with others showing “major breakthroughs in clinical cancer research and care.”  We are clearly on the right track funding work on this important drug for desmoid tumours.

Desmoid tumours are locally aggressive, painful and extremely debilitating, even causing mortality in afflicted patients. While the anti-tumour activity of Sorafenib has been clinically demonstrated in DT patients, the mechanism of action is not fully understood, which makes it more difficult to identify which patients may derive benefit from this drug. Interestingly, preliminary studies have shown that the type of mutation may make a difference in the drugs therapeutic effect. Specifically, desmoids harboring the CTNNB1 S45F mutation appeared to be more tolerant of Sorafenib, as compared to desmoid tumour’s harboring the T41A/S45P or wild type CTnnB1. Also, the mechanism of cell death in response to Sorafenib differs between these types of desmoids.

In the first aim of this grant, the researchers will investigate the mutational differences between desmoids and their differing responses to Sorafenib. We hope this study will result in important findings that can positively impact the management of patients burdened with desmoid tumours.

The Desmoid Tumour Foundation of Canada (DFC) is a registered Canadian charity dedicated to funding research for a cure for desmoid tumours. DFC was founded in 2016, motivated by a personal connection to the disease. Thanks to the benefits of research underway through the US foundation DTRF, we have seen improvements but there is more to be done.

Our goal in Canada is to raise funds for research as well as to provide a framework for a support network for those affected. The DFC is the only Canadian foundation dedicated to funding desmoid tumour research and finding a cure for this rare disease.

Research seeks to determine what goes wrong in cells to generate these tumours, what medical and surgical options work best, and what existing drugs or potential new drugs could provide effective treatments.

DFC supports the collaboration between researchers from different institutions to expedite the development of a cure. Discoveries made through desmoid tumor research can also potentially be applied to many other kinds of cancers.