Here’s a quiz: What percent of federal research money goes to pediatric cancer? Surprisingly, only 4 percent. And how much federal research funding goes to cancers that strike teens and young adults? Almost none.
The beautiful young woman wearing a hat in the photograph above is battling a cancer that primarily strikes teens and young adults. It’s rare, it can be deadly, and it has an almost unpronounceable name: fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma. Fortunately, the Rockefeller University scientists gathered around her are all working on her behalf. They are dedicated to researching and fighting her cancer. These scientists have discovered that fibrolamellar is caused by a single change in the patient’s DNA. Every fibrolamellar patient has the same alteration. This makes fibrolamellar an excellent model for understanding how cancer develops, as well as a powerful system for testing the efficacy of certain cancer drugs.
The young woman in the hat desperately needs the help of these Rockefeller University scientists. And they need your help. Without support from people like you, their potentially lifesaving fibrolamellar research will be stalled. Critical projects are at risk.
So please: Join the battle by contributing to the Fight Fibrolamellar initiative. Help these Rockefeller University investigators in their search for diagnostics and drugs to treat fibrolamellar patients and advance all cancer research.
Here are three projects that need your support right now:
Fund a blood test for fibrolamellar
Help develop the first blood test for fibrolamellar. This critically needed test will help to detect fibrolamellar early. The test will also be used to determine if experimental treatments are working and to monitor patients for recurrences of the disease.
Fund a search for drugs that can block fibrolamellar
Help screen for drugs to block this rare liver cancer. Your donation will help pay for a battery of screenings to find drugs that can block fibrolamellar cells from growing.
Fund the Fibrolamellar Tissue Repository
Funds are needed to collect and process fibrolamellar tissue and blood samples, the critical building blocks of our fibrolamellar research.
