Illinois CancerCare Foundation Announces Local Grant Funding

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Illinois CancerCare

Jul 31, 2013, 11:45 ET


(PRWEB) July 31, 2013 -- The Illinois CancerCare Foundation is pleased to announce grants approved for the period July 2012 – July 2013. Grant commitments totaling $480,635 were approved by the Board of directors in support of the following programs:

  • Community Clinical Oncology Program, for a companion study of Pazopanib as a second line therapy in treating patients with metastatic prostate cancer.
  • Community Clinical Oncology Program, for research initiated by Dr. Pedro DeAlarcon examining gene expression from cord blood and from bone marrow from children and adults to look for genetic factors involved in the production of platelets in response to a naturally occurring hormone – thrombopoietin. Understanding the gene expression will increase the knowledge of how patients could respond to cancer therapy.
  • Community Clinical Oncology Program, for shortfall funding to accelerate the development of interventions for preventing, treating, recovering from and curing cancer.
  • Community Clinical Oncology Program, for fuel cards for clinical trial participants who need to travel considerable distances in order to participate in cancer clinical trials.
  • Community Clinical Oncology Program, for creation of an iPad application for collecting research-related data from patients to further the understanding of the diagnosis, screening, prevention, and treatment of cancer, particularly in the areas of underserved populations and comparative effectiveness of treatments.
  • Illinois CancerCare Genetics, for a pilot genetic screening program to screen central Illinois families at risk for hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), also referred to as Lynch Syndrome.
  • Illinois CancerCare Genetics, for molecular tumor sequencing to identify mutations in selected metastatic cancer patients who may be candidates for targeted therapies such as Dovitinib and BKM 120.
  • Sojourn Bears, Inc., for hand-made teddy bears to provide inspiration and comfort to newly diagnosed cancer patients.
  • OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Breast Center/Illinois CancerCare Genetics, for a partnership to develop a comprehensive breast cancer risk assessment program.
  • OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Outpatient Rehab/Lymphedema Services, to assist patients with the cost of treatment and compression garments.

Janet Varnes, Illinois CancerCare, http://www.illinoiscancercare.com, 309.243.3618 309.243.3422, [email protected]