Terry Fox Run Donations …Where Does the Money Go?
The Terry Fox Run takes place in one month. On Sunday, September 14, the entire country will come together to honour Terry Fox and his dream of a world without cancer.
Terry Fox started a marathon against cancer. Together, we can finish it.
When you give to a Terry Fox Run, your money goes to cancer research. Research that has allowed for such vast improvements such as childhood leukemia formerly having a survival rate of less than 3% when Terry was a child, to today having that number at more than 90%.
Two of the researchers making a difference on the Prairies are Dr. Sachin Katyal based out of Winnipeg and Dr. Laura Hopkins working in Saskatoon. Dr.’s Katyal and Hopkins are part of the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network (MOHCCN), an unprecedented collaboration led by the Terry Fox Foundation and the Terry Fox Research Institute that unites cancer patients, researchers, oncologists, administrators and donors from institutions across the country to advance cancer research.
A national strategy for personalized cancer treatments
MOHCCN is creating a national strategy so that all cancer patients in Canada can one day receive personalized cancer treatments tailored to the unique characteristics of their cancer, no matter who they are or where they live. Dr. Hopkins, Dr. Katyal, and hundreds of their colleagues are making discoveries that are helping cancer patients here and across the country receive the right treatment at the right time for their unique cancer.
Meet Researcher Dr. Sachin Katyal
Dr. Sachin Katyal is an Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba, Scientific Lead and Senior Scientist at the Paul Albrechtsen Research Institute, Director of the Manitoba Tumour Bank at Cancer Care Manitoba, and a member of MOHCCN’s Steering Committee. He is a leading researcher in precision oncology, a cancer treatment that targets the specific characteristics of each individual's tumour.
Dr. Katyal considers the partnerships available through MOHCCN a crucial step in advancing cancer research findings and to put them into practice.
“I study the specific characteristics of what makes a cancer a cancer and how these can be turned onto themselves into a personalized form of treatment. In other words, the vulnerabilities that cause cancer also can be targets to treat that cancer.
New technology and knowledge in science, health and medicine is growing by the day that we cannot keep up with the latest and greatest as individual researchers. However, the power of the MOHCCN network has brought together researchers from across the Prairies and the Canadian cancer research landscape to tackle these cancers in a concerted effort.
It’s really an exciting time as the MOHCCN has driven the formation of new research teams, consortia and programs to harness current scientific innovations and Made-in-Canada ingenuity to develop personalized treatments for Canadians with cancer: precision oncology.”
Meet Clinician Dr. Laura Hopkins
Dr. Laura Hopkins is a gynecologic oncologist with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency (SCA) and a Professor in the Department of Oncology at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine.
Dr. Hopkins received funding support in 2022 and launched the SCA’s first investigator-initiated clinical trial exploring patient preferences for precision medicine in ovarian cancer.
There are molecular changes in tumors that can be identified using state of the art genetic sequencing technology. The presence or absence of these changes allows for specific prediction about the chances of responding to certain cancer drugs. Patients in the trial were provided with this personalized information. The patients then used this information to help them decide whether the treatment was right for them.
Preliminary results of this trial have already been used to upgrade the standard of care for ovarian cancer in Saskatchewan. The success in Saskatoon is helping women across Canada today as well as generations of future patients.
Donations support research in your province. Donations support treatment in your province.
Run donations are collected by the Terry Fox Foundation who transfers it to the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI).
TFRI funds world-class cancer research, investing in projects selected through a rigorous, expert-led review process that prioritizes those with the greatest potential for impact. The Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network is one of the main initiatives supported by these funds.
With the incredible collaboration of hundreds of partners, MOHCCN is breaking down silos so that research advancements made at the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute, the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto, BC Cancer, or any lab in between can benefit cancer patients across the country.
Patients with Cancer Care Manitoba and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency benefit from the research done in their provinces and from agencies throughout Canada, and in turn play a role in helping other patients treated across the country.
Fundraisers, participants, donors, and volunteers, all support this ambitious research just like Terry Fox did when he started his marathon against cancer 45 years ago.
Join the Terry Fox Run today and help finish it. Visit terryfox.org for more information.