TCF Funded Research and Scientific Updates

Promising New Cholangiocarcinoma Treatment Findings

An exciting paper was recently published in Cancer Discovery highlighting the promise of the recently FDA approved FGFR inhibitor drugs for an even broader population of cholangiocarcinoma patients with FGFR2 fusions. The Evan Schumacher Fund for Rare Cancer Research at TargetCancer Foundation directly supported Dr. James Cleary’s work at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute leading to these important developments. His work was also informed by TCF’s longstanding commitment to cell line creation for cholangiocarcinoma, beginning over a decade ago in Dr. Nabeel Bardeesy’s lab at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Rare Cancer Research During COVID-19

By TCF research grant recipients Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center,  and Adam Bass, MD of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 2010, TargetCancer Foundation has supported Dr. Bardeesy’s work in cholangiocarcinoma, and Dr. Bass’ work in gastroesophageal cancer Continue reading

An Insider’s Perspective

Dr. Monika Laszkowska, a gastroenterology fellow, next to the poster she presented at the 2019 TargetCancer Foundation Think Tank on Advancing Gastroesophageal Cancer Research. She shares her reflections on her experience at the meeting below. Continue reading

2019 Cholangiocarcinoma Research Grant Announcement

TargetCancer Foundation is proud to announce a new two-year, $240,000 grant to the Bardeesy Lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center brings our overall investment in cholangiocarcinoma research to over $1 million since 2011. 

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Building the tools of cholangiocarcinoma research- a researcher’s reflection.

In December 2019, TargetCancer Foundation announced $240,000 in new cholangiocarcinoma grant funding. The following post was written by Grant Recipient Nabeel Bardeesy. 

I would like to congratulate TargetCancer Foundation for its outstanding contribution to research in rare and under-studied cancers over the past 10 years. My laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital has been a long-time partner of TCF, and their support has been essential in enabling work at MGH and beyond to expand research in cancers of the bile ducts (cholangiocarcinoma). TCF fulfills an important gap in research funding—providing venture capital toward areas that have been neglected and fall out of the domain of more conservative funding sources. This is crucial for rare cancers. Continue reading

Announcing new 2018 grants

As our programs at TargetCancer Foundation continue to expand, we remain committed to our primary mission of funding innovative rare cancer research.

We are excited to announce three new grants totaling over $160,000, supporting projects that accelerate progress towards treatments for those facing rare cancers.

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A New Rare Cancer Partnership

How do you define a rare cancer?

This is one the most commonly asked questions we receive- and the answer isn’t a simple one. While the default factor cited usually involves the number of patients affected by the disease, that can vary dramatically, from as few as a handful of people a year to as many as 20,000. As a result, the most definitive criteria are often determined by the treatment and research landscape: Continue reading

Our largest round of grants to date.

We are proud to announce our largest round of rare cancer grant funding to date: $200,000 in new grants supporting innovative rare cancer research, as well as a new program supporting patients facing cholangiocarcinoma. Learn more about each of these exciting new grants and programs below. Continue reading

Fostering esophageal cancer progress.

In 2012, we identified a need for a scientific meeting uniting key players in cholangiocarcinoma research. In order to best foster collaboration and informal discussion, however, we wanted a format that was different that that of the typical scientific meeting. This approach led us to the TargetCancer Foundation Think Tank on Cholangiocarcinoma– a unique meeting that united not only cholangiocarcinoma experts, but also leaders from other rare cancers who shared their experiences of successfully bringing those cancers out of orphan status. Continue reading

Casual beginnings for an innovative collaboration.

Great coverage of TargetCancer Foundation’s support of an innovative esophageal cancer collaboration at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Continue reading