Each day, it seems, cancer research reveals promising new findings in the search for more effective cures. But many types of cancer remain difficult to treat. An exciting new area of reseach may lead to what we call "personalized cancer care". The idea is, we can tailor therapy to individual cancer cases based on genes in cancerous tissue.
MPOP supports this research by asking patients to save your tumor, and donate this small sample removed in surgery to science. This will allow researchers to search for patterns of genetic variation in the samples and help them identify new ways to treat cancer.
While cancer research continues to advance, we do know that some patients respond well to therapy, while others with an apparently similar disease do not respond well.
The reason this happens may lie in the genetics of those individuals' tumors. Unlocking this secret code may help advance understanding of cancer in new and important ways.
MPOP is part of a national alliance seeking these answers. It is a new way for all of us to work together in the search for new cures for cancer. Among the major questions we address are:
Finding answers to these questions will have a profound impact on cancer care.
Our vehicle for this is MPOP, an alliance of patients, physicians, health advocates and researchers dedicated to bridging the gap between researchers and patients.
Each person is unique, and by assisting the tumor-tissue donation process, each can make an important contribution in the fight against cancer.