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    “I speak about cancer. I ride my bike. I do these things because I want to change the story. I want a different ending.”

    In 2008, Patrick Sullivan lost his young son Finn to an extremely rare form of cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma. A few months later, he was approached by two close friends: “They told me about this fundraising bike ride to Seattle, the Ride to Conquer Cancer. They wanted to put a team in it – and do it in honour of Finn. That was the start of Team Finn.”

    Every member of Team Finn is inspired by a little boy who lived every moment of his short life to the fullest. Their distinctive pink jerseys read “Run. Jump. Bounce. Dance. Sing. Love. Smile. Ride,” words that celebrate Finn’s approach to every day.

    Finn showed how to live life with courage and joy, and his example has helped Team Finn achieve extraordinary success in raising funds for the BC Cancer Foundation. In just three years, they have raised over $1 million to support cancer research. As Finn’s father says, “Doctors couldn’t change Finn’s story. ‘Incurable’ was his ending. If I could change that for somebody else, then every moment of time is worth it.”

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    “I speak about cancer. I ride my bike. I do these things because I want to change the story. I want a different ending.”

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    New genetic mutations found for non-Hodgkin lymphoma

    A team of researchers at the BC Cancer Agency, including Dr. Marco Marra and Dr. Ryan Morin, identified a significant number of new genetic mutations involved in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Researchers sequenced the entire genome of lymphoma cancer cells from 14 NHL patient samples and the ‘active’ genes from 117 NHL patients to search for genetic mutations specific to cancer cells. The study uncovered 109 genes with recurring mutations, from which 26 have been identified as contributors to NHL based on their mutation patterns. This study was published in the international science journal Nature.