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Archive for 2013
Riding Together for Cancer Early Detection: Canary Challenge Celebrates Partnership with Vanderkitten Racing
February 22, 2013
Text “Canary” to 99000 for the scoop on the Canary Challenge!
Canary Challenge celebrated our new partnership with Vanderkitten Racing with a 75K ride along the Canary Challenge route in the lovely hills behind Palo Alto, CA. Ten cyclists from their team came together from all over the world to promote our September 28, 2013 ride to raise funds to benefit the Stanford Cancer Institute and Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection. Since 2005, Vanderkitten has been committed to spreading awareness of women excelling, battling the odds and achieving. They are an organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of successful women and inspiring women by sharing those stories. Canary Challenge is excited and honored to partner with an organization that so highly values and promotes women’s athletics – especially since physical activity is one of the cornerstones of cancer prevention.
The ride lasted about three hours, looping through the scenic route through Portola Valley and up King’s Mountain Road to Woodside and back past Palo Alto. The riders were delighted to be accompanied by Edwin the Early Cancer Detection Early Bird, our very own mascot. If you haven’t ridden the Canary Challenge before, you’ll be astounded by the gorgeous scenery and incredible views. You’re in for a treat!
Following the ride was a healthy lunch and a presentation by our founder, Don Listwin, who articulated the Canary Foundation mission and vision for our new partners. The riders were fascinated by the statistics illustrating how most funding for cancer research goes tocuring cancer at its later stages, rather than investing in technologies that will help us catch it early. By the end of the presentation, the team was fully on board to support Canary’s vision to live in a world where cancer is detected in its earliest, most curable stages.
A tour of the facility proved equally exciting, where the riders had a chance to see the labs and research teams hard at work on the most cutting edge technology in cancer early detection.
We’re beyond thrilled to have Vanderkitten Racing on board for the Canary Challenge. We consider them a part of our team, and they consider us a part of theirs. Join us for the ride onSeptember 28 for a chance to meet the Vanderkitten Racing team and even ride along with them (as long as you can keep up, that is!). Text “Canary” to 99000 for more information, or just go and Register today.
Raising Funds for Cancer Early Detection: Canary Foundation Luncheon 2013
February 13, 2013
Last Friday, 200 supporters of the Canary Foundation joined at the Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club for the Annual Canary Luncheon. Together, we celebrated Canary’s successes in cancer early detection, discussed the latest technology in ovarian and breast cancer early detection research, and reviewed advances in microbubble technology.
All in all, we raised more than $187,000 to support early detection research and funds are still coming in! Special appreciation goes to an anonymous family foundation and Judy and Alan Zafran who provided lead gifts that inspired this giving. We thank them for their belief in our mission.
One of the highlights of the luncheon was watching Jesse Draper of The Valley Girl Show interview our Founder, Don Listwin, and Dr. Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir, Chair of the Radiology Department at Stanford University and Director of the Canary Center at Stanford. Jesse brought a great energy to the conversation, asking questions about Canary Foundation research and progress, and helping to explain microbubble technology and its role in imaging for cancer early detection. Click here to watch Don Listwin give a breakdown of microbubble technology and how it will change the way we detect cancer in the future.
In addition to discussing technology and research, the interview also reinforced the most basic and fundamental message of the Canary Foundation: to detect cancer at its earliest, most curable stages. One of the highlights day was from Ronica Smucker, Executive Director of Canary Foundation, who stated: “If you come away from this luncheon with any number, it should be this: nine times out of ten, if cancer is detected early, the patient survives.” When asked for the best tip for the audience, Dr. Gambhir urged the audience to make it a priority to attend routine checkups with your doctor- the primary way cancer is detected early.
Thank you once again for all those who attended and helped us make this one of the most successful Canary Luncheons to date. We’ve created a photo gallery of the event on Facebook. We welcome you to check out the photos and tag yourself.
Ovarian Cancer Early Detection: Take Action!
February 12, 2013
At last Friday’s Canary Luncheon, ovarian cancer early detection was one of the major topics discussed. Dr. Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir shared some of the symptoms of ovarian cancer, and reiterated that it should rank high on everyone’s priority list to meet with your physician regularly for checkups and regular cancer screening such as colonoscopy or mammography.
During the interview with Jesse Draper, Don Listwin, Founder of Canary Foundation, promised that he would make a more formal and comprehensive list of symptoms available on the Canary Foundation website and blog. Here they are!
Historically, it’s been believed that ovarian cancer symptoms were too vague to identify. But recent data [1] shows that sometimes it isn’t silent – there may be symptoms, but we have to watch out for them. Remember that nine times out of ten, if cancer is detected early, the patient survives. It’s critical to be in tune with your body and alert to any changes that might signal the presence of cancer.
Symptoms of ovarian cancer are not specific to the disease, and they often mimic those of many other more-common conditions, including digestive problems. However, when one of these symptoms is new, occurs almost daily and lasts longer than 2-3 weeks, it’s critical to see a physician and get checked out.
- Pelvic and/or abdominal pain
- Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency)
- Nausea or diarrhea
- Bloating
- Trouble eating and/or feeling full quickly
1. Rossing MA, Wicklund KG, Cushing-Haugen KL, Weiss NS. Predictive Value of Symptoms for Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer. JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2010;102(4):222–229.
Ovarian Cancer Early Detection: Screening at Stanford School of Medicine
February 7, 2013
On behalf of the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection and the Stanford Cancer Institute, the Canary Foundation is supporting the search for candidates to participate in the Novel Markers Trial Ovarian Cancer Screening Test. This is an important new research study looking at markers in the blood that may be used as an early detection test for ovarian cancer. If you fit the criteria, please consider joining the effort to reach the vision of living in a world of simple tests that identify and isolate cancer at its earliest, most curable stage.
Candidates are needed who fit the following criteria:
- Healthy women
- Ages 45-80
- Have at least one ovary
If you are willing to donate one tube of blood and fill out a questionnaire once a year for two years, we’re looking for you! If you have three of the following risk factors you may qualify:
- Of Ashkenazi Jewish descent
- Never given birth to a child (this counts as two risk factors)
- Never had a tubal ligation
- Used hormonal contraception (birth control pills) for less than a year in your life
If you are interested in learning more, please contact the research study office at novelmarkers@stanford.edu or call (650) 724-3308. For general information about participant rights, contact 1-866-680-2906.
In Memory: Lawrence Viariseo, Canary Challenge Rider and Cancer Early Detection Advocate
January 29, 2013
Lawrence Viariseo survived a fall off of a tall cliff, and fought a brave battle with cancer before his passing in late January. He raised funds for the Canary Challenge in 2012. His service is being held February 9, 2013 in Palo Alto, California.
Mr. Viariseo asked for friends or family members to donate to the Canary Challenge in lieu of flowers.
His niece Megan Cox describes him this way, “As you may remember, my uncle was a paraplegic who had beat stage 4 bladder cancer once before. The doctors at Stanford he felt had saved his life. It meant the world to him to be entering into the challenge in 2012 to give back to those doctors.”
CLICK HERE to make a donation to honor his memory. Please write a personal note if you would like.
Here is a lovely article that ran last year regarding his story, and his commitment to the Canary Challenge.
Microbubble Imaging for Cancer Early Detection: Don Listwin Talks the Latest Technology
January 16, 2013
During our annual Ladies’ Luncheon “You’ve Got a Date with the Valley Girl” on February 8th, Jesse Draper, Don Listwin and Sam Gambhir will focus their conversation on microbubble imaging technology. Sound complicated? Watch this short video where Don explains microbubble technology and how it could radically change the way we detect cancer and stop it at the earliest possible stage. We hope you’ll be able to join us!
You’ve Got a Date with the Valley Girl: Let’s Talk Cancer Early Detection
January 15, 2013
Every year, Canary Foundation hosts a Ladies’ Luncheon, where we discuss our most cutting edge research on cancer early detection, and discuss its implementation. This year, our luncheon “You’ve Got a Date with the Valley Girl,” will be on February 8th, and will be hosted by Jesse Draper, creator and host of “The Valley Girl Show” where she interviews start up executives and innovators. She runs the technology blog Lalawag.com and is a regular featured writer for the Mashable, San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post and Glam.
Save the date and plan to sit in as Jesse interviews Sanjiv (Sam) Gambhir, MD, PhD, Chair of Radiology at Stanford University, Director of the Canary Center at Stanford and Don Listwin, Founder and Chairman of the Canary Foundation.
Check out the video below to see Don invite you to join us for this fabulous annual luncheon!
Cancer Early Detection in 2013: Canary Foundation Leads the Way
January 9, 2013
Everyone here at Canary Foundation is looking forward to an exceptional year filled with challenges and scientific milestones for our program teams working on early cancer detection research in ovarian, breast, lung, pancreatic and prostate cancer.
We’re starting the year with a bang! We’ll host our first event of the year on February 8: our annual Ladies’ Luncheon featuring Jesse Draper (most famously known as the host of The Valley Girl Show), who will interview Canary Foundation Founder Don Listwin and Director of CCS and Chair of Radiology Dr. Sam Gambhir on the latest news in early cancer detection. It’s not too late to register!
This February is also the one-year anniversary of our Breast Cancer Early Detection Program. Canary Foundation scientists are collaborating with the Cancer Prevention Institute of California to study pre-diagnostic breast cancer samples for potential breast cancer biomarkers.
Another upcoming milestone is related to our ongoing research on microbubble imaging technology. We hope (and expect) to begin testing of microbubbles on patients at Stanford in 2013. Keep your eye out for news of impeding FDA approval of microbubble technology – we’ll be sure to share it with you when the news finally breaks!
You might have read that the Canary Center at Stanford will be moving to a new campus this year. The move to the Porter Street Campus is scheduled for late summer or early fall, to a facility about twice the size of our present building. The Canary Foundation offices will move also, due to Stanford University needing the current location for new uses. We’re all very excited about settling in to our new digs.
If you’ve ever been to a Canary Challenge ride, you’ll know what all the fuss is about! On September 28, 2013, we plan to host over 1,000 cyclists and raise $1 million or more for the Stanford Cancer Institute. The ride will start off from VMware in Palo Alto as it did in 2012. Teams of four or more are encouraged to sign up to participate, and we have a brand new 5K Ride/Walk to accompany the 50K, 75K, 100K and 100-mile rides this year. We encourage you to start building your teams now!
The annual Canary Early Detection Symposium will be hosted this year on October 15, 2013. This event brings together scientists, researchers and high tech industry to solve problems and collaborate in the field of early cancer detection in all of the Canary program areas.
It’s going to be a great year, and we invite you to book your calendars and join us as we raise money, celebrate successes, and forge our way ahead through new horizons in cancer early detection research!
