Professor Parry Guilford (right), Director of the Centre for Translational Cancer Research (Te Aho Mātatu) at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and his team. Chemoprevention of stomach cancer is their most pressing goal, but there is much more work to be done.
The Save Our Stomachs campaign’s Mission is to build an endowment fund supporting sustained Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer syndrome research.
The Save Our Stomachs campaign’s Mission is to build an endowment fund supporting sustained Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer syndrome research.
Professor Parry Guilford (right), Director of the Centre for Translational Cancer Research (Te Aho Mātatu) at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and his team. Chemoprevention of stomach cancer is their most pressing goal, but there is much more work to be done.
Only 0.23% of the National Cancer Institute’s 2018 budget was dedicated to stomach cancer, ranking 18th out of 19 categories. Of that, the amount dedicated to Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC) was even less.
A $1.5m endowment campaign will provide core funding for The Centre for Translational Cancer Research to conduct long-term research into Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC), giving patients an option to live with their stomachs, and without stomach cancer.
Why SOS?
Odds are you have a stomach. Most people do, but if you have been diagnosed with Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer syndrome caused by a mutation in the CDH1 gene you might be stomachless.
The current recommended treatment for carriers of the CDH1 mutation is a complete prophylactic total gastrectomy.
While the carrier’s chances of dying from complications of diffuse gastric cancer drop to zero, that risk is traded for complications of living a stomachless life.
Some carriers of this mutation opt instead to watchfully wait, however most who choose this option will still eventually end up having a total gastrectomy following the identification of an early-stage cancer. Unfortunately, endoscopy is an imperfect surveillance tool and advancing cancers can be missed, leading to late diagnosis and very poor survival chances.
Our vision of the Save Our Stomachs campaign is to see a solution based on scientific research in which CDH1 mutation carriers won’t have to remove their stomach to avoid diffuse gastric cancer. Our $1.5m endowment fund will support sustained Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer Research at The Centre for Translational Cancer Research at the University of Otago.
Parry Guilford and his research team continue to search for ways to eliminate the devastating impact inherited stomach cancer has on families.
Funding for research into rare medical conditions such as this is hard to find, and even harder to sustain.
Core funding provided by this endowment will allow for research objectives to turn into better patient management, and hopefully, we can Save Our Stomachs – For The Future.
Carriers of CDH1 mutations have a risk of up to 70% of developing advanced stomach cancer in their lifetime.
Carriers of CDH1 mutations have a risk of up to 70% of developing advanced stomach cancer in their lifetime.
About the Research SOS Will Support
Meet Professor Parry Guilford, Director of the Centre for Translational Cancer Research (Te Aho Mātatu) at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. In 1995, Guilford’s team formed a partnership with a large New Zealand Māori family with a multi-generational history of diffuse stomach cancer. The laboratory identified the first known cause of inherited stomach cancer in 1997-98, the CDH1 gene mutation. Their work continues today, as the laboratory searches for ways to eliminate the devastating impact inherited stomach cancer has on families.
Help build a brighter future for the next generations.
Research is underway to identify drugs that will prevent the development of cancer in affected families without having to remove the stomach as a means of prevention. Longer term objectives include identifying better ways to predict cancer risk in HDGC families and developing effective new treatments.
About the Research SOS Will Support
Meet Professor Parry Guilford, Director of the Centre for Translational Cancer Research (Te Aho Mātatu) at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. In 1995, Guilford’s team formed a partnership with a large New Zealand Māori family with a multi-generational history of diffuse stomach cancer.
The laboratory identified the first known cause of inherited stomach cancer in 1997-98, the CDH1 gene mutation. Their work continues today, as the laboratory searches for ways to eliminate the devastating impact inherited stomach cancer has on families.
Help build a brighter future for the next generations.
Research is underway to identify drugs that will prevent the development of cancer in affected families without having to remove the stomach as a means of prevention. Longer term objectives include identifying better ways to predict cancer risk in HDGC families and developing effective new treatments.
Research Partnership Leads To Lives Saved
Three decades ago, Maybelle McLeod’s Māori family was dying of hereditary diffuse gastric cancer in terrifying numbers. Today, due to the connection McLeod made with cancer geneticist Prof Parry Guilford, and the collaboration that followed, many lives in the McLeod extended family have been saved and the lives of many others around the world are being saved too.
In this 2022 Newshub. video from New Zealand, the McLeod extended family and Parry Guilford celebrate life at an event the family refers to as a “Gene-Aversary.”
About
Learn how the Save Our Stomachs campaign was born and meet the people working to make a brighter future for HDGC families throughout the world.
Resources
Find more information about HDGC, CDH1 mutations, organizations focused on stomach cancer and lobular breast cancer, and support groups.
Faces of HDGC
Stories shared by video interview of the impact of HDGC in peoples lives.
Tributes
Remembering loved ones lost to HDGC.
Get Your Gear On
Support the SOS Campaign and help spread the word. Shop Save Our Stomachs branded t-shirts, coffee mugs, totes, and more!
About
Learn how the Save Our Stomachs campaign was born and meet the people working to make a brighter future for HDGC families throughout the world.
Resources
Find more information about HDGC, CDH1 mutations, organizations focused on stomach cancer and lobular breast cancer, and support groups.
Faces of HDGC
Stories shared by video interview of the impact of HDGC in peoples lives.
Tributes
Remembering loved ones lost to HDGC.
Get Your Gear On
Support the SOS Campaign and help spread the word. Shop Save Our Stomachs branded t-shirts, coffee mugs, totes, and more!
Meet Parry’s Angels
Parry’s Angels are a team of six who have been personally impacted by HDGC. We are dedicated to ending complete stomach removal to prevent gastric cancer from developing in those with a CDH1 gene mutation.
Help us achieve our goal to ensure funding in perpetuity to advance the world’s most promising HDGC research led by Professor Parry Guilford, University of Otago, Centre for Translational Cancer Research in Dunedin, NZ.
Meet Parry’s Angels
Parry’s Angels are a team of seven who have been personally impacted by HDGC. We are dedicated to ending complete stomach removal to prevent gastric cancer from developing in those with a CDH1 gene mutation.
Help us achieve our goal to ensure funding in perpetuity to advance the world’s most promising HDGC research led by Professor Parry Guilford, University of Otago, Centre for Translational Cancer Research in Dunedin, NZ.
Major Donors & Supporters
Alumni of the University of Otago in America
Karen
Chelcun Schreiber
Legacy Donor
Major Donors & Supporters
Alumni of the
University of Otago
in America
Karen
Chelcun Schreiber
Legacy Donor
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The DLH Foundation supports the Charter of Save Our Stomachs with time and financial investments. The grassroots economic support we can provide here has a significant and meaningful impact on the futures of our CDH1 community. As a parent, you can imagine how difficult it is for us knowing we passed this gene on to our children, and we’re doing everything we can to save their stomachs and avoid a cancer diagnosis. We need and ask for your help to fund our initiative.
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