In recent years, OvCaRe has matured to a degree where we’re quite successful in receiving grant funding. But grants only fund projects, not the many other essential things that keep us moving forward. This is where BC Cancer Foundation funding comes in.
We’ve seen tremendous support come in from the Underwear Affair and we’ve been able to leverage this funding to increase our success with grants. In addition, there have been some wonderful individuals who believe in our work and have provided generous funding to target a specific research initiative that might not have otherwise been explored.
For example, clear cell cancers are the second most common type of epithelial ovarian cancer, but for many years, most of the research was focused on serous-type cancers. Because a donor wanted to direct funds to the clear cell ovarian cancer, B.C. is now becoming a centre of breakthrough research in this area.
We have also seen increased linkages between endometriosis and gynecological cancers, and I honestly believe this is an area of exceptional promise in the next few years.
Understanding the genetic profile of these cancers has yielded perhaps the most promising results, and for this work, we rely on a strong relationship with our colleagues at the Genome Sciences Centre. This work can be very expensive, but we’ve seen significant results for granulose cell tumours, serous tumours, clear cell and endometriod tumours, and this is very good news.
All the best,
Dianne