Blog
Archive for 2012
Rally Your Team for the Canary Challenge!
March 8, 2012
Dr. Fred Chin, Head of Cyclotron Radiochemistry at Stanford University Medical Center & Canary Challenge Rider, extends his passion for early cancer detection research beyond the lab, fundraising and promoting awareness through his participation in the Canary Challenge. He shares his motivation for creating and leading “Team MIPS” (Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford), leveraging the opportunity to bond and build relationships with other researchers and physicians on the team. Watch this short video to learn more about Fred’s experience, goals, and words of wisdom for new riders.
httpv://youtu.be/um5vGkRPAgg
Funds raised in 2012 Canary Challenge will be donated to the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) to benefit cancer research and innovative supportive care programs. Cancer strikes about one in three women and one in two men in the United States. Canary Foundation, the producer of the event, is committed to identifying early stage cancers to save lives.
To register for the Canary Challenge, visit: www.CanaryChallenge.com
The Role of a Postdoc Researcher in the Lab
March 5, 2012
Majlinda Kullolli is a Postdoc research fellow in Dr. Sharon Pitteri’s lab at the Canary Center at Stanford 
University. In this interview, Majlinda shares what the role of a Postdoc is in a lab, as well as her experience working at the Canary Center.
What is a postdoc’s role in the lab?
My role in the lab is to conduct research projects, to think independently, be highly motivated, design and carryout experiments, analyze data, and interpret results. It’s my responsibility to fully understand the technical details of projects as well as to understand each project in the larger context of cancer early detection. In short, it is my job to make sure that the project is getting done successfully.
What is the mission of Dr. Pitteri’s lab?
The mission of the lab is to discover proteins that can be used for diagnostics, progression, and the recurrence of cancer. The lab is mostly concentrated on breast cancer and ovarian cancer research. Most of the work is done with human plasma samples but we also work with cancer cell lines.
Why did you choose this position?
I received my Ph.D. working in Bill Hancock’s lab at Northeastern University. I was working in biomarker discovery for autoimmune disease, but I always wanted to study cancer biology. When I saw this position at the Canary Center for Early Detection, I was interested because I’ve always been fascinated in the study of early detection for cancer. It’s important to know about a disease at the beginning, during the early stages of tumor initiation. Catching cancer early provides a better opportunity to cure and treat the patient.
What are your personal goals in this trajectory?
My personal goal is to be able to learn more about early detection and cancer and help discover biomarkers that can be used for early cancer diagnostics. I am excited to work in a highly collaborative environment which allows me to grow and learn as a scientist.
Why I Chose Early Detection Research at the Canary Center
February 28, 2012
As a scientist, I knew early in my career that I wanted to focus on research that would affect human health and suffering. In 2012, I joined the team at Canary Center at Stanford because I recognized that I had an unparalleled opportunity to do early detection research that will impact millions of lives – for the better. I invite you to learn more about the ground breaking research we do at the Canary Center at Stanford and why early detection is critical to the fight against cancer.
httpv://youtu.be/0OEv1CQDvAA
Joining the Fight Against Breast Cancer
February 8, 2012
Currently, a woman living in the U.S. has a 12.1% risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer — that’s 1 out of 8 women. Think about 8 women you know; mothers, sisters, friends, coworkers – that’s how close this disease is to each of us. It’s a disease that requires our attention, resources, and brightest minds to work collaboratively to beat it. Today, we announce another bold step in our mission: the launch of the Canary Breast Cancer Program.
We’re funding two forward-thinking research projects that will lay the foundation for a new Breast Cancer Early Detection Initiative. One study will focus on finding biomarkers in the blood of women diagnosed with breast cancer that may indicate the presence of tumor growth. The second study will develop an imaging modality to detect breast cancer at the earliest stages. As such, it offers great potential in detecting very small tumors– pinpointing the location for surgery or target therapies before the cancer has the chance to spread.
Building upon the successful models of our other research programs, we have a tremendous opportunity to develop early detection tools that will help save the lives of women all over the world.
Our work wouldn’t be possible without the support of our community. We invite you to take action, show your support by making a donation to the Breast Cancer Early Detection Initiative.
Sharon Pitteri, PhD, Assistant Professor of Research at the Canary Center at Stanford, will be leading this bold initiative forward. In this video, she shares her inspiration for working in the field of early detection as well as a brief overview of the program structure and goals.
httpv://youtu.be/4P1cLWJxC5Y
Discovering Biomarkers for Early Cancer Detection (Whiteboard Video)
February 5, 2012
Canary Foundation is working toward simple blood tests and molecular imaging techniques that detect cancer at an early stage when it is most treatable and when a cure is most likely. These tests rely on biomarkers, specific indicators that cancer cells are found among the body’s healthy tissues. Proteins produced by a developing tumor are one type of biomarker. A cancer cell, compared to a healthy one, may make a new type of protein or different amounts of normal proteins. An early detection blood test would detect the abnormal protein as soon as it appeared in the body. Canary Center at Stanford’s faculty researcher Dr. Parag Mallick describes the challenge of discovering these biomarkers and using them for early cancer detection.
httpv://youtu.be/x2oSw7texpY
Canary Cares Profile: Dale Jantzen
January 24, 2012
Dale Jantzen is a board member and long-time supporter of Canary Foundation. Through the years, Dale has been actively involved with our organization in many different capacities; as a donor, volunteer, supporter of the Canary Challenge, and much more. In this video, Dale shares his personal motivation for supporting cancer early detection research and how late diagnosis cancer has affected his life.
httpv://youtu.be/36DETn6uvkg
Interview with Susan Conley, Author and Breast Cancer Survivor
January 10, 2012
Susan Conley is the author of The Foremost Good Fortune, and cofounder of The Telling Room, a nonprofit creative writing center for students aged six to eighteen. Susan is the keynote speaker at the Canary Foundation, Early Detection Luncheon Series on February 7, 2011, a launch event for a new Breast Cancer Early Detection Program at Canary Foundation.
Q: When and how did you discovered your breast cancer?
Susan: I’m a breast cancer patient who was told by my wonderful surgeon that I was a poster child for early detection. At first, I didn’t understand what she meant, when a lot of women are going through their early, startled days of diagnosis, they’re told: “there’s actually a silver lining here… you’re so lucky”. That word “luck” kept coming up, and I couldn’t understand why this story of cancer could have luck play a role in it. Eventually, I realized the doctors were referring to the fact that I found my cancer on my own, and it was very small, so we caught it very early.
After I discovered the cancer, I had a week of magical thinking where I envisioned it going away, but I knew in my heart of hearts that something was askew. I waited a week and then I went in to the hospital in Beijing, trying to be cavalier about it. The pinnacle of my stress and fear of the cancer occurred in a radiology ultrasound room. The Chinese surgeon and radiologist kept telling me that my cysts were “nothing, nothing, nothing,” and they tried to persuade me of this—they even told me to wait six months and brought up things like vanity, saying, “You wouldn’t want to have a scar.” I told them that I didn’t care about scars, and that I was the mother of two young boys.
Then I went home and called my gynecologist in the States and told her that I’d been instructed to wait on the lumps. She replied: “you can never wait.” She said, “You go in and you find out,” so the following day I had an on-the-spot lumpectomy in Beijing.
Q: What were the greatest challenges of dealing with cancer treatment while juggling career with family, as well as living in a foreign country?
Susan: The biggest challenge of early diagnosis is incorporating the disease into your life. You might go through some rather distinct phases. I found it comforting to read materials that described the very same things I was experiencing. There was disbelief, and then fear, then anger, sadness, you name it. It was the full spectrum of emotions.
I left Beijing after my first surgery; the majority of my remaining treatment took place in the States. I joke in my book that my cancer was very convenient, because it came in the late spring, and I could pull my kids out of school early.
One of the biggest struggles for me was learning how to talk about cancer to my kids. All my early diagnosis worry was focused on my boys. Early diagnosis is fraught in so many ways. I kept asking myself, “Who knows how bad this cancer is?” It went right to my mortality. I wondered if my children were going to grow up motherless. Then I met a wise therapist in Boston; she helped me enormously by giving me the courage to tell my children the truth about my cancer. She made me realize how exhausting and hard it is to lie to your children.
I flew back home to Beijing and told the boys, and it was such a relief. Everything shifted then. I only gave them the information they could manage about the disease, but I used the words breast cancer. All they wanted to know was that I was going to be ok. Once I realized this, I saw that I was the one with the most fear about the cancer, not them. I figured out that I was the one that needed to manage this fear.
Ultimately, I had no sense of how cathartic talking and writing about cancer would be—it demystified it for me and helped me make sense of the disease and how it had affected my family.
Q: What kind of impact did early detection have in your experience?
Susan: Early detection saved my life. I had small tumors but they were very aggressive. I think most breast cancers have their own surprises and their own stories and mine was no exception. I get very upset when I hear people discussing whether or not early detection is effective. I know so many women who found their cancer through early detection. I’m actually a proselytizer for early detection.
Q: What do you think needs to change regarding breast cancer early detection?
Susan: I think there’s often a gap between what the science community understands about breast cancer through their data, and what we as patients know to be true through our personal narratives. We all know someone who was young, had a mammogram, and found a tumor. The language and messaging around early detection needs to change. In the trenches at cancer centers all over the country, early detection often means hope.
The public also needs a better understanding of the nuances of breast cancer– I call it the different flavors of cancer in my book, because there are so many. Sometimes I found a shocking willingness on the part of our community to believe that we have found a cure for breast cancer. You’ll hear it at a cocktail party or the side of a soccer field. Someone unknowingly will say to me, “It’s so great that there’s treatment that can cure breast cancer now.” I always find myself incredulous at this. There is effective treatment when the cancer is detected early. But the fact remains that cancer is a really complication conversation.
Q: What impact do you want to have in the world of cancer early detection?
Susan: It’s important to have people who humanize the story and the disease. In writing my book, I hope I may have helped bridge the connection between the disease and the personal stories we all carry with us. I find that people are often really isolated with their disease and their diagnosis. I’ll go to a cancer center or a book event, and I’ll be so moved by the people who have come out for the reading, because they want to hear a story of hope, and they want to be connected. People in the universe of this disease are seeking connectivity, and they’re looking for how to make sense of it. If anything, I realized I could tell my story and help people feel less alone. Also, my story has a happy ending, and I can offer that up. It’s not a fairy tale ending, but a real one, and that gives others hope.
Happy New Year from Canary Foundation!
January 2, 2012
httpv://youtu.be/Dis2Ew1ZI-Q
Canary Foundation is incredibly grateful for the support of our friends, colleagues, and greater community. As we continue to work towards our goal of delivering early detection tests for solid cancer tumors, we recognize that our work would not be possible without your support. We look forward to 2012 as we work together to actualize our vision for the future: a world of simple tests that identify and isolate cancer at its earliest, most curable stage.
