A Look at Charitable & Non-Charitable Organizations
The intent of this thread is two fold 1. To evaluate charitable organizations that focus on breast cancer. 2. To evaluate non-charitable companies & organizations that solicit donations for a breast cancer charity.
Charitable:
Verify 501c3 status--designation that a nonprofit organization has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt, charitable organization. A charity must be established for 5 years before it is listed on Charity Navigator (CN). https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?FromRec=21&keyword_list=breast+cancer&Submit2=Search&bay=search.results
CN rates charities on a 4 star scale. The star rating is based on a 100 point scale. It's financial score is added to it's accountability & transparency score =100. Reviewing the pie charts will show what percent goes towards administrative, fundraising, and programs supported by the charity. This link is to CN index of methodology to rate a charity http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=32#.VilX12wQXIU
They're other organizations that rate charitable 501c3's.
A charity may not wish to be listed on CN b/c of many reasons, but that does not mean that they are shysters. It does however make it more difficult to evaluate them. Asking to review the 990 tax form identifies the IRS required financial disclosure required by law, can be an option.
In developing your analysis, review the charities web site. It helps to understand the organization by reviewing the mission/vision statement. Then scroll through the web sites index and review each section. Our particular interest is how much money goes to research and awareness. In each section there should be a full description of where the money goes.
When you write your evaluation of the charity, please, start with the Organization's name, address, phone, e-mail, contact person. I have found it very useful after completing my review, to call the organization if I have any questions. Talking with the CEO's office is the place to start.
Non-charitable:
The following questions are from " thinkbeforeyoupink.org/?page_i... a project of Breast Cancer Action (used with permission). These question are valuable when evaluating an organization that is soliciting donations.
1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? How much?
2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic?
3. Is there a "cap" on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell?
4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breast cancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?
Link to Pinktober Revolution http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/102/topic/791442?page=33#idx_984
Link to DivineMrsM community.breastcancer.org/for...
Comments
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Breastcancer.org 7 East Lancaster Avenue, 3rd Floor Ardmore, PA 19003--Breastcancer.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing information and community to those touched by this disease. Learn more aboutour commitment to providing complete, accurate, and private breast cancer information
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Feb. 11, 2014
1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? How much? (My addition--% to recipient and/or % administrative costs)
No purchase is necessary. Organization subsists on donations and monies received from fundraising events, individual, corporations, other charitable foundations The money is used to fund the programs identified in the mission statement. No money is given directly to individual breast cancer individuals. It is a 501c3 charitable certified organization
Mission statement taken from BCO web page--"Our mission is to help women and their loved ones make sense of the complex medical and personal information about breast cancer, so they can make the best decisions for their lives."
Rating Charity Navigator-CN-(link below), and BCO'S 990 tax form as shown on BCO web site(link below). BCO's fiscal year ends May 31st each year.
Charity Navigator rating 4 FYE 2012(for year end). Total rating score by CN is 70(points). This score is determined by two major sections that are then added and divided by two.
1. Financial 62.9/70
2. Acountability and Transparency 66.00/70
BCO's overall score is 64.24/70
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Breakdown of how donations are spent:
Fundraising 12.6%
Administrative 8.3%
Programs 79.1 %
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Compensation of Leaders(per CN)
Chief Executive Officer -Hope Wohl $214,046
Precent of Expences 5.99%
Founder and President-DR Marisa Weiss $219,400
Percent of Expenses 6.14%
Charity Navigator link
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=sear...
BCO's Financial page on web site. Click on hyperlink to open pdf. of the year you wish to review.
http://www.breastcancer.org/about_us/financial_inf...
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2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic? Question does not apply.
3. Is there a "cap" on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell? Question does not apply.
4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breastcancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breastcancer epidemic? Question does not apply.
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I had started a thread at the end of September asking something similar, just thought I'd post the link here.
Breast Cancer Topic: Name the Best Organizations to Donate To
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Mothers Grace, http://mothers-grace.org/
Phones Michelle Fanger-480-320-9466, Tricia Feagles-602-432-9160. Question 1. description exceeds expectations. >90% of donations used for programs. Question 2&3 Provides financial support for bills. Partners with groups or individuals to provide physical/educational support. Funds four grants per year to those wanting to start a 501c3. Provides assistance internationally. Donations by paypal or credit card at secure website. Request may need application found on web site. Has 501c3 approval. Link to FB. Question 4 doesn't apply. Mother's Grace is a new charity. It won't be included on Charity Navigator for 5 years.
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Wrangler's Tough Enough To Wear Pink Campaign, which I'm familiar with from the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), has raised over $12million to support various breast cancer charities. They're strong breast cancer research advocates with a totaly transparent agenda and website. http://www.toughenoughtowearpink.com/index.php/tetwp/about/ Be sure to read their "Who Benefits" page, which lists a number of local organizations. Deanna
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I volunteered to help dlb823 to apply the above questions to TETWP program. TETWP program identified by dlb823 above is uniquly different than other organizations. How does it work in the rodeo /western community? A group wanting to do a fund raiser contacts TETWP. The group defines the fundraiser and where the funds raised will be sent too. TETWP allows the group to use TETWP's Trademark Marketing campaign machine for the groups campaign.
Upon completion of the fundraiser, the group informs TETWP how much was raised and where they are sending there money. TETWP adds that to their total of funds raised (12 million as of 2012), but no funds actually go through them. The funds go directly to the named recipient from the local group. If the local group does not have a designated receipient, TETWP requests it be sent to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. 99% of funds raised stay in the local community where the event took place. Those organizations identified on the who benefits page are the top fund raiser recipients for the year. The list is revised yearly. There have been over three hundred organizations that have been recipients
TETWP does not want direct donations. They are not 501c3 approved and don't want to be. They use their Trademark Marketing Campaign machine to help locals get the word out and raise funds. Bless them.
All info verified with Terry Wheatley of TETWP. Review of accuracy of statements regarding TETWP was completed on 10/16/2012
Question 1 and 2 doesn't apply, 3 doesn't apply, 4 not under there control.
SAS
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Breast Cancer Research Foundation
60 East 56th Street
8th Floor
New York, NY 10022
tel: (866) 346-3228
fax: (646) 497-0890
EIN: 13-3727250web home page www.bcrfcure.org/index.html
Founder and Chairman, Evelyn Lauder. (deceased 2011) Established in 1993. Charity Navigator 4 star rating 10 out of last 11 years. 2011 it was given a 3 star rating. Four star rating is Charity Navigators highest rating.
Question1---91% to programs-37,682,559Program expenses+ fundraising expenses 4%(2.6%CN)+2,431,086=40,11,3645, 4% to Administrative costs- 1,072,699 4%(%,6% CN)
Question 2. who gets the money?. This link goes to the page that identifies the researchers by name. You can read a lay persons synopsis of what they are researching. 190(197) researchers were funded in 10/2011 for a total of 40(41+) million, for the fiscal year of 2012-13.
http://www.bcrfcure.org/action_grantees.html
Cure and prevention: how the categories for funding are broken up. As I read it, their application for funding would have to fall into one of these five categories.
http://www.bcrfcure.org/action_topics_cure.html
Impact of research: What they have found
http://www.bcrfcure.org/about_impact.html
Question 4. Could not determine if BCRF is independent of Estee Lauder Company. Evelyn Lauder Was the founder in 1993. She was Chairman of the Board of BCRF until her death in 2011. A Lauder still sits as chairman. I could not find an organizational chart. It says at the BCRF web site and the Estee Lauder web site that they are Partners. Partner between corporate sposners and charitable foundations is a common representation. With the bigger entities, they accomplish Partnering by contract. It would seem that the companies would be separate to allow for a corporate shield. I could not find this infomation. Anyone reading this that has located the information, please Pm and I will edit. This is important information because Estee Lauder Company will not deny or admit that they are doing animal testing and chemicals that are considered oncogenic(cancer causing) are being used in their products. There are web sites that can be googled by key words Estee Lauder and animal testing/ongonenic chemicals. Since I can't verify that the organizations are separate, it is up to the reader to do their own reseach and conclusion regarding concerns elicited by question 4. If they are separate entities, then BCRF should not be held accountable for the actions of another corporation.
Evelyn Lauder had ovarian cancer and died of complications of ovarian cancer. She had a vested interest in what she was doing. So, however question 4, causes someone to respond is up to their own belief system. BCRF has funded many amazing breakthroughs for BC. A rush to judge anything should take this into consideration---If BCRF hadn't funded the research that it has funded where would we be?
501c3 status- listed on charity navigator
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Asked by DBL to see how the BCA questions could be applied to this web site b/c another member found some of their BC related phrases objectionable.
MyWalkGear web site began in 2011. It is an off shoot of another online order company. If I read the Alexa score right there are 20 web addresses related to this web address. This score is used by a Domain monitor to inform a company how well their company web addresses interface. Point being, 20 "companies" under one parent company which is "giftsforyounow.com". "gifts etc" was formed in 1999. It is a proprietary for profit company. MyWalkGear lists on it's web site that it makes donations to charitable organizations. This company does not have a connection to any charitable organization other than simply donating. Customers place orders primarily online. The company has standard phrases available for choice and customizing is available. Information gathered from customer service representative, web site, domain monitor web site.
1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? How much? (My addition--% to recipient and/or % administrative costs)--donated $2,750.00 on 1/23/2013 TO SUSAN B KOMEN. Further analysis not applicable because this is not a charitable organization, but rather a proprietary for profit business.
2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic?--The company donates different amounts of money to different organizations. Again they are a proprietary for profit company further analysis not applicable.
3. Is there a "cap" on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell? Not applicable.
4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breastcancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breastcancer epidemic? Only applicable if you object to the organization to which they donate.
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Stand Up To Cancer---a work in progress
Mission statement: http://www.standup2cancer.org/mission_statement
1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? How much? (My addition--% to recipient and/or % administrative costs)
2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic?
3. Is there a "cap" on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell?
4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breastcancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breastcancer epidemic?
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Transfer from Pinktober Revolution thread
Beach ruthbru
ND
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 25,488
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9 hours ago ruthbru wrote:
What is the goal of Stand Up To Cancer?
Simply put, the goal is to raise money to fund the most promising cancer research projects and unite the best scientists who are on the verge of critical discoveries that can provide direct patient benefit in the shortest time possible.
How will donations to Stand Up To Cancer be used?
Seventy percent of SU2C donations directly fund the best and brightest investigators from leading institutions across the country and internationally to work in collaborative, multidisciplinary "Dream Teams." These teams pursue the most promising research, accelerating the discovery of new therapies for cancer patients and/or advancing efforts in cancer prevention research. With sufficient resources to conduct intense, goal-directed, team-oriented approaches to a cancer problem, these teams can be successful. The more funds raised, the more Dream Teams that can be funded.
Twenty percent of SU2C donations directly fund innovative, high-risk, high-reward innovative cancer research proposals that often are not supported by conventional funding sources, but have the potential to improve the lives of cancer patients. The hope is that ideas for new Dream Teams will emerge from these novel projects.
Ten percent of SU2C donations are invested in the SU2C reserve to continue its mission of funding cutting-edge research and bringing effective new treatments to cancer patients in the shortest time possible. -
Reserved for Ruth's SU2C
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Reserved for Ruth's SU2C
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Should I quit researching on my own for now & wait for the BCO site to get straightened out? -
O.K. Here you go. StandUp2Cancer is one of the charities funded by the Entertainment Industry Foundation. First is the breakdown of the entire foundation, and second I have addressed StandUp2Cancer itself
Entertainment Industry Foundation
1201 West Fifth Street
Suite T-700
Los Angeles, CA 90017
tel: (213) 240-3900
fax: (213) 481-3100
EIN: 95-1644609
Created in 1942, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) was established on the belief that the entertainment industry was in a unique position to truly help others. EIF harnesses the collective power of the entertainment industry and channels its unique assets to raise awareness and funds for critical health, educational and social issues in order to make a positive impact in our community and throughout the nation. Annually, the Entertainment Industry Foundation funds more than 300 charitable organizations within the greater Los Angeles area and throughout the nation.
ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION NTEE Code T70 NTEE Classification Fund Raising Organizations That Cross Categories NTEE Type Philanthropy, Voluntarism and Grantmaking Foundations Classification Charitable Organization Subsection 501(c)(3) (View the list of codes) Activities (561) Gifts or grants to individuals (other than scholarships)
Foundation Status Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) Deductibility Contributions are deductible Affiliation Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). Group Name [Not Applicable] Exempt Organization Status Unconditional Exemption
Score (out of 70) Rating
FYE 12/2011
Overall 61.34
Financial 57.76
Accountability & Transparency 70.00
Financial Performance Metrics Program Expenses
(Percent of the charity’s budget spent on the programs
and services it exists to deliver) 77.6%
Fundraising Expenses 12.5%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.18
Primary Revenue Growth 13.2%
Program Expenses Growth 27.7%
Working Capital Ratio (years) 0.54
Accountability & Transparency Performance Metrics Information Provided on the Form 990 (my note: all these areas are checked 'yes') Independent Voting Board Members No Material diversion of assets Audited financials prepared by independent accountant Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From related parties Documents Board Meeting Minutes Provided copy of Form 990 to organization's governing body in advance of filing Conflict of Interest Policy Whistleblower Policy Records Retention and Destruction Policy CEO listed with salary Process for determining CEO compensation Board Listed / Board Members Not Compensated Is the following information easily accessible on the charity's website? (my note: all these areas are checked 'yes') Donor Privacy Policy Board Members Listed Audited Financials Form 990 Key staff listed
Contributions
Contributions, Gifts & Grants
$36,788,081
Federated Campaigns
$0
Membership Dues
$0
Fundraising Events
$4,457,791
Related Organizations
$0
Government Grants
$0
Total Contributions
$41,245,872
Program Service Revenue
$0
$41,245,872
$158,865
TOTAL REVENUE
$41,404,737
$46,468,144
$5,850,145
$7,534,816
$59,853,105
$0
Excess (or Deficit) for the year
$-18,448,368
$32,603,989
Compensation of Leaders (FYE 12/2011)
Paid to
Title
$414,855
0.69%
Lisa Paulsen
President, CEO
http://www.standup2cancer.org/mission_statement
SU2C’s unique funding model, developed with the help of prominent cancer researchers, encourages collaboration and innovation through two new types of scientific grant.
Dream Team grants are awarded to multi-institutional groups of scientists who work collaboratively, rather than competitively, to develop new treatments quickly in order to save lives now. To learn more about SU2C’s Dream Teams, please click here.
SU2C-St. Baldrick’s Pediatric Cancer Dream Team: Immunogenomics to Create New Therapies for High-Risk Childhood Cancers SU2C-CRI Dream Team: Immune Checkpoint Blockade and Adoptive Cell Transfer in Cancer Therapy SU2C-PCF2 Dream Team: Targeting Adaptive Pathways in Metastatic Treatment-Resistant Prostate Cancer SU2C-PCF Dream Team: Precision Therapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer SU2C-MRA Dream Team: Personalized Medicine for Patients with BRAF Wild-Type (BRAFwt) Cancer An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotype Bringing Epigenetic Therapy to the Forefront of Cancer Management Bioengineering and Clinical Applications of Circulating Tumor Cell Chip Cutting the Fuel Supply: A New Approach to the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer Targeting PI3K in Women’s Cancers
Innovative Research Grants support groundbreaking cancer research projects that are high-risk but could also be high-impact, and have the potential to significantly affect patient care. To learn more about the recipients of SU2C’s Innovative Research Grants, click here.
Innovative Research Grants 2009
Innovative Research Grants 2011
Latest News
2011 IRG 18 Month Progress Reports
2009 IRG 12 Month Progress Reports
2009 IRG 24 Month Progress Reports
2011 IRG 6 Month Progress Reports
1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? and 2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic?
An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotypes
Funding: $16.5 million
Leader: Joe W. Gray, Ph.D., professor and chair, biomedical engineering department, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, and Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., director of clinical/translational research at the University of California Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Project Background
During the past several years, researchers have come to understand that breast cancer is not a single disease but rather a spectrum of conditions that vary in their biology and response to treatment. Understanding breast cancer’s molecular diversity has been the driving force leading to the development of new treatments for this disease. Researchers are rapidly moving beyond the "one size fits all" approach into a new era in which breast cancer treatments will be tailored to the biology of the tumor. This project will address the most significant issues related to the three major subtypes of breast cancer — ER positive, HER2 positive, and triple negative (simultaneously ER negative, PR negative and HER2 negative) and will use that information to develop innovative, less toxic therapies with the potential to improve the treatment outcomes for women with this disease.
One of the primary obstacles to effective cancer treatment is the ability of cancer cells to become resistant to treatments that are initially effective. Over a period of time, cancer cells are able to develop ways of "outsmarting" the drugs and agents designed to kill them, a phenomenon known as drug resistance. This Dream Team will study the driving mechanisms that lead to drug resistance in the three major breast cancer subtypes. Understanding resistance opens the door to developing innovative therapeutic agents that overcome this critical problem.
Another area of interest is in the role that cancer stem cells play in resistance. Researchers now realize that the growth and spread of many cancers, including breast cancers, are influenced by the existence of these stem cells which are often highly resistant to otherwise effective treatments. The Team will study the ways in which this unique malignant cell population operates across the three major breast cancer subtypes, knowledge that could be important to the developing new treatments for breast as well as other major cancers.
One critical component of this study will be to bring together the vast amount of information that exists about breast cancer into an integrated data base that will form a "discovery platform", or basis for identifying and validating new drug combinations and targets that can be pursued in clinical trials. The Team expects that these efforts will lead to significantly improved therapies for breast cancer, especially the most difficult to treat forms, within the three-year period.
Status Update
6 month milestones
In the first six months, the Dream Team focused on implementing a variety of integrated approaches to identify novel targets and mechanisms that may lead to later stage clinical trials opportunities. These so-called "discovery" studies included the development of (1) techniques that can measure drug impacts on single cells; (2) xenografts model from human tissues; and (3) 2D and 3D assays to examine the interaction of tumor cells with their environment in response to drug treatment. In addition, they completed the construction of a library of "short hairpin RNAs" (shRNAs) that will be used to systematically inactivate genes in order to identify potential new targets for therapy. The Dream Team also established a state-of-the-art bioinformatics and data analysis platform aimed at maximizing multi-site communication and collaboration.
On the clinical side, the Dream Team made progress in the validation of new drug treatments to circumvent anti-hormone resistance in ER positive breast cancers. Potential candidates include VEGFR2 inhibitors, buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), c-SRC inhibitors, as well as PI3K inhibitors. They also showed that cells expressing the gene ZNF217 were more resistant to chemotherapy, suggesting that this gene could be good target for new therapies. For HER2 positive breast cancers, the Dream Team focused on the development and characterization of tumor cell lines model that demonstrate either acquired or de novo resistance to two different drugs: lapatinib or trastuzamab. Analyses of these preclinical data are ongoing, and potential targets will be selected for in vivo validation studies. The Dream Team also reported an interesting correlation between a deficiency in the product of the gene RAD51, and strong response to chemotherapy for triple negative breast cancers. Finally, the Dream Team developed a method to identify cancer stem cells (CSCs) in breast cancer cell lines. They reported data indicating that Herceptin may target those CSCs when used in combination with a chemotherapeutic agent.
12 month milestones
In this period, the Dream Team continued their preclinical studies to determine how resistance arises in each subtype of breast cancer, and the best drugs that can be employed to overcome this resistance. Some of the planned targets, such as c-SRC, failed to be confirmed as drug resistance mechanisms in ER positive breast cancers. They began planning clinical trials to test other potential targets, such as VEGFR2, or cdk-4/6. Positive results for HER2 positive breast cancers were reported as the Team identified the loss of PTEN, combined with mutations in the PI3K pathway, as a potential mechanism of resistance. The Dream Team also reported the results of clinical trials demonstrating that the drugs Lapatinib and Trastuzumab have a synergistic effect when used in combination.
The "discovery group" within the Dream Team assembled and classified several hundred breast cancer cell lines, and the bioinformatics Team began working to extract novel information from this large dataset. Progress on 3D models of breast cancer cells was also reported. There, the Team has made the interesting observation that those cells in the outer layer in 3D cultures seem to be protected from treatment with PI3K inhibitors. Their next step was to explore the molecular mechanism responsible for this phenomenon.
18 month milestones
At the half-way point, the Dream Team translated some of their preclinical studies into the clinic; multiple clinical trials were started for each of the different types of breast cancers, and more were still in the planning phase. The Dream Team also reported extensive preclinical evaluation of T-DM1, a HER2-targeted agent which appears to be effective against HER positive breast cancer cell lines, even when Trastuzumab and/or Lapatinib failed. The Dream Team reported on their continued effort to discover new targets and agents for triple negative breast cancers, particularly those targeting DNA repair pathways which tend to be crippled in many triple negative breast cancers. Of note, the product of the gene PTPN12 seems to act as a tumor suppressor by interfering with the activity of a number of receptor tyrosine kinases, and appears to be mutated in 5% of triple negative breast cancers and absent from as many as 60%. This finding suggests that Sunitinib (or Crizotinib) and Lapatinib might have beneficial activity against these tumors.
The Team also reported follow-up studies based on their observation that cells located in the outer layer of 3D cultures were activating a variety of survival signaling pathways leading to treatment resistance. They confirmed that this phenomenon was also evident for model breast cancer cells propagated in vivo, and for breast cancer tissue specimens in women treated with anti-breast cancer agents. These preclinical experiments have nominated combinations of targeted drugs and the BCL-2 antagonist ABT-737 for future clinical trials.
24 month milestones
At the two year mark, the Dream Team had made significant progress at integrating "omics" data from various sources. They launched the SU2C Cancer Genomics Browser that contains both SU2C-generated and other published data from hundreds of cell lines. Most of the data from other platforms, such as those generated by other SU2C Dream Teams, or non SU2C-affiliated laboratories, can be easily ported to the SU2C Cancer Genomics Browser and added to the collection.
The Team also continued to make progress in defining both prognostic and predictive genomic signatures. Notably, their preclinical work using cell lines and animal models led to the identification of genes potentially involved in the development of resistance to hormone therapy. These included MEK1/2, mTOR, B1-intergrin, FAK, c-Src, and PTEN. From these efforts, a new clinical trial was planned to test the effect of specific inhibitors of MEK1/2, mTOR, B1-intergrin, and FAK.
The studies on the effect of the microenvironment on drug sensitivity continued moving forward with linkages to the clinical research components of the Team. Specifically, the up-regulation of Bcl-2 in the microenvironment suggested that it might create an opportunity for combination therapy using a Bcl-2 antagonist. The Dream Team also reported plans to move forward with a PARP inhibitor that was shown to be 100-fold more potent than other agents currently in the clinic; a phase I trial was initiated. The Dream Team plans to take the drug into trials for ER positive and HER2 positive breast cancers.
30 month milestones
By the end of this period, the Dream Team has initiated or joined a significant portfolio of breast cancer clinical trials, clearly contributing to improving breast cancer outcomes. Of note are attempts to improve treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer using the new drug T-DM1. A neoadjuvant trial of the conjugate given in alone and in various combinations (including with Pertuzumab and no cytotoxic chemotherapy) should discern the magnitude of the treatment effect. Another promising study involves the new PARP inhibitor BMN-673 that appears to be so much more potent that the other existing PARP inhibitors.
The Dream Team reported a fascinating opportunity for triple negative breast cancers with PTPN12, which is lost in 65-70% of triple negative breast cancer cases, exhibits tumor suppressor actions when reintroduced into breast cancer cells devoid of the enzyme. The Team is now exploring the possibility of a clinical trial with sunitinib and crizotinib, two drugs that are FDA-approved and marketed by Pfizer; contacts with the oncology development group at Pfizer have been initiated.
Also, several key preclinical concepts generated by the Team are advancing to clinical assessment. For instance, the Team has continued its effort to tease apart mechanisms of adaptive resistance to targeted drugs exhibited by breast cancer cells in the context of 3D cultures. They identified the gene Bcl-2 as a critical component of treatment resistance. The Dream Team reported a number of clinical observations that provide a strong rationale for the use of Bcl-2 antagonists in combination with HER2 treatment.
The various screens using shRNA libraries developed by the Dream Team since the inception of the project appear to have the potential to discriminate adaptive versus selected resistance mechanisms. Several screens have been completed; others are in the pipeline. Finally, the combined cell line screening studies and enhanced bioinformatics efforts have begun to produce genomic signatures related to drug sensitivity and resistance as well as prognosis for different breast cancer types and are suggesting ways to link drugs to treatment of cancers with specific genomic signatures. The Team intends to disseminate data and analysis tools broadly to other SU2C-funded Dream Teams and eventually the broader scientific community.
36 month milestones
During this last period of the initial grant term, the Dream Team has continued to make significant progress in all studies initiated. They have completed some, and will pursue others through monies leveraged from other sources. The Team has continued to develop the work demonstrating the role of Bcl-2 in breast cancer cell survival, including the possible use of Bcl-2 inhibitors (e.g., ABT-737) in breast cancer treatment. They have also continued their efforts to develop the new PARP inhibitor (BMN-763) for possible use in breast cancer patients. Supplemental funding of $1.0 million was approved to allow a subset of the original Dream Team to translate these two promising avenues of research into the clinic.
In this period, the Team reports the development of a robust system to assess genomic aberrations and drug responses in cells grown on cell spot microarrays (CSMA). Numerous studies are now underway using this system. Analyses of the 32 completed genome-wide RNAi screens using the third generation shRNA library (74,304 shRNAs targeting > 19,000 genes) have also continued; data has been analyzed for 16 of the 32 so far. For the sequencing, the Team has transitioned to high capacity platforms and developed a new protocol that will allow completion of sequencing in the first half of 2013. The Team has continued to develop and improve computational methods to analyze and visualize the wealth of data generated by this and other SU2C-funded Dream Teams. These include: PARADIGM, PARADIGM- SHIFT, Differential Pathway Signature Correlation (DiPSC), and the SU2C Cancer Genome Browser.
The Haussler group is requesting further support from SU2C to support the UCSC Cancer Genomics Browser as a common resource to service all SU2C teams. The browser will be a platform for data sharing, and provides a coherent mechanism for teams to release data to the public. The browser will serve as a living data portal to view, access and retrieve past and current SU2C team data. As each team concludes their projects, the datasets generated under their awards could be made available at a common site that provides storage and retrieval, dynamic access and online exploration. If funded, The Haussler lab would work with all the teams to process and host their data sets
How much? Since Stand Up To Cancer was founded in May 2008, we have granted $161 Million Dollars to ten Dream Teams of scientists and researchers, one international translational research team and 26 high-risk, high-reward Innovative Research Grants.
100% of public funds go directly into research grants. A portion of the funds that are raised from major donations and third-party fundraising go towards administrative expenses and overhead.
Learn more about The SU2C Funding Model
3. Is there a "cap" on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell? No cap, the more money, the more funding for research.
4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breastcancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breastcancer epidemic? I went to the website store. They sell clothes, blankets, pet sweaters & leases, jewelry, tennis shoes, blankets, cups, buttons etc. all with the StandUp2Cancer Logo. Nothing I saw would contain any toxins. -
I have a whole long 'thing' but it is not copying in right ....bunches of <font> marks etc. I don't know if it my computer or problems with the update on BCO. I will try later. -
O.K. Here you go. StandUp2Cancer is one of the charities funded by the Entertainment Industry Foundation. First is the breakdown of the entire foundation, and second I have addressed StandUp2Cancer itself:
Entertainment Industry Foundation
1201 West Fifth Street
Suite T-700
Los Angeles, CA 90017
tel: (213) 240-3900
fax: (213) 481-3100
EIN: 95-1644609
Contact Email
Visit Web Site
Mission
Created in 1942, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) was established on the belief that the entertainment industry was in a unique position to truly help others. EIF harnesses the collective power of the entertainment industry and channels its unique assets to raise awareness and funds for critical health, educational and social issues in order to make a positive impact in our community and throughout the nation. Annually, the Entertainment Industry Foundation funds more than 300 charitable organizations within the greater Los Angeles area and throughout the nation.
ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION NTEE Code T70 NTEE Classification Fund Raising Organizations That Cross Categories NTEE Type Philanthropy, Voluntarism and Grantmaking Foundations Classification Charitable Organization Subsection 501(c)(3) (View the list of codes) Activities (561) Gifts or grants to individuals (other than scholarships)
Foundation Status Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) Deductibility Contributions are deductible Affiliation Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). Group Name [Not Applicable] Exempt Organization Status Unconditional Exemption
Score (out of 70) Rating
FYE 12/2011 Overall 61.34
Financial 57.76
Accountability & Transparency 70.00
Financial Performance Metrics Program Expenses
(Percent of the charity’s budget spent on the programs
and services it exists to deliver) 77.6%
Administrative Expenses 9.7%
Fundraising Expenses 12.5%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.18
Primary Revenue Growth 13.2%
Program Expenses Growth 27.7%
Working Capital Ratio (years) 0.54
Accountability & Transparency Performance Metrics Information Provided on the Form 990 (my note: all these areas are checked 'yes') Independent Voting Board Members
No Material diversion of assets Audited financials prepared by independent accountant Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From related parties Documents Board Meeting Minutes Provided copy of Form 990 to organization's governing body in advance of filing Conflict of Interest Policy Whistleblower Policy Records Retention and Destruction Policy CEO listed with salary Process for determining CEO compensation Board Listed / Board Members Not Compensated
Is the following information easily accessible on the charity's website? (my note: all these areas are checked 'yes') Donor Privacy PolicyBoard Members Listed Audited Financials Form 990 Key staff listed
Contributions
Contributions, Gifts & Grants
$36,788,081
Federated Campaigns
$0
Membership Dues
$0
Fundraising Events
$4,457,791
Related Organizations
$0
Government Grants
$0
Total Contributions
$41,245,872
Program Service Revenue
$0
Total Primary Revenue
$41,245,872
Other Revenue
$158,865
TOTAL REVENUE
$41,404,737
EXPENSES
Program Expenses
$46,468,144
Administrative Expenses
$5,850,145
Fundraising Expenses
$7,534,816
TOTAL FUNCTIONAL EXPENSES
$59,853,105
Payments to Affiliates
$0
Excess (or Deficit) for the year
$-18,448,368
Net Assets
$32,603,989
Compensation of Leaders (FYE 12/2011)
http://www.standup2cancer.org/mission_statement
Paid to
Title
$414,855
0.69%
Lisa Paulsen
President, CEO
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C is bringing together the best and the brightest researchers and encouraging collaboration instead of competition among the entire cancer community. By galvanizing the entertainment industry, SU2C creates awareness and builds broad public support for this effort.
SU2C’s unique funding model, developed with the help of prominent cancer researchers, encourages collaboration and innovation through two new types of scientific grant.
Dream Team grants are awarded to multi-institutional groups of scientists who work collaboratively, rather than competitively, to develop new treatments quickly in order to save lives now. To learn more about SU2C’s Dream Teams, please click here.
SU2C-St. Baldrick’s Pediatric Cancer Dream Team: Immunogenomics to Create New Therapies for High-Risk Childhood Cancers SU2C-CRI Dream Team: Immune Checkpoint Blockade and Adoptive Cell Transfer in Cancer Therapy SU2C-PCF2 Dream Team: Targeting Adaptive Pathways in Metastatic Treatment-Resistant Prostate Cancer SU2C-PCF Dream Team: Precision Therapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer SU2C-MRA Dream Team: Personalized Medicine for Patients with BRAF Wild-Type (BRAFwt) Cancer An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotype Bringing Epigenetic Therapy to the Forefront of Cancer Management Bioengineering and Clinical Applications of Circulating Tumor Cell Chip Cutting the Fuel Supply: A New Approach to the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer Targeting PI3K in Women’s Cancers
Innovative Research Grants support groundbreaking cancer research projects that are high-risk but could also be high-impact, and have the potential to significantly affect patient care. To learn more about the recipients of SU2C’s Innovative Research Grants, click here.Innovative Research Grants 2009
Innovative Research Grants 2011 Latest News 2011 IRG 18 Month Progress Reports
2009 IRG 12 Month Progress Reports
2009 IRG 24 Month Progress Reports
2011 IRG 6 Month Progress Reports
1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? and 2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic?
An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotypes
Funding: $16.5 million
Leader: Joe W. Gray, Ph.D., professor and chair, biomedical engineering department, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, and Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., director of clinical/translational research at the University of California Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Project Background
During the past several years, researchers have come to understand that breast cancer is not a single disease but rather a spectrum of conditions that vary in their biology and response to treatment. Understanding breast cancer’s molecular diversity has been the driving force leading to the development of new treatments for this disease. Researchers are rapidly moving beyond the "one size fits all" approach into a new era in which breast cancer treatments will be tailored to the biology of the tumor. This project will address the most significant issues related to the three major subtypes of breast cancer — ER positive, HER2 positive, and triple negative (simultaneously ER negative, PR negative and HER2 negative) and will use that information to develop innovative, less toxic therapies with the potential to improve the treatment outcomes for women with this disease.
One of the primary obstacles to effective cancer treatment is the ability of cancer cells to become resistant to treatments that are initially effective. Over a period of time, cancer cells are able to develop ways of "outsmarting" the drugs and agents designed to kill them, a phenomenon known as drug resistance. This Dream Team will study the driving mechanisms that lead to drug resistance in the three major breast cancer subtypes. Understanding resistance opens the door to developing innovative therapeutic agents that overcome this critical problem.
Another area of interest is in the role that cancer stem cells play in resistance. Researchers now realize that the growth and spread of many cancers, including breast cancers, are influenced by the existence of these stem cells which are often highly resistant to otherwise effective treatments. The Team will study the ways in which this unique malignant cell population operates across the three major breast cancer subtypes, knowledge that could be important to the developing new treatments for breast as well as other major cancers.
One critical component of this study will be to bring together the vast amount of information that exists about breast cancer into an integrated data base that will form a "discovery platform", or basis for identifying and validating new drug combinations and targets that can be pursued in clinical trials. The Team expects that these efforts will lead to significantly improved therapies for breast cancer, especially the most difficult to treat forms, within the three-year period.
Status Update
6 month milestones
In the first six months, the Dream Team focused on implementing a variety of integrated approaches to identify novel targets and mechanisms that may lead to later stage clinical trials opportunities. These so-called "discovery" studies included the development of (1) techniques that can measure drug impacts on single cells; (2) xenografts model from human tissues; and (3) 2D and 3D assays to examine the interaction of tumor cells with their environment in response to drug treatment. In addition, they completed the construction of a library of "short hairpin RNAs" (shRNAs) that will be used to systematically inactivate genes in order to identify potential new targets for therapy. The Dream Team also established a state-of-the-art bioinformatics and data analysis platform aimed at maximizing multi-site communication and collaboration.
On the clinical side, the Dream Team made progress in the validation of new drug treatments to circumvent anti-hormone resistance in ER positive breast cancers. Potential candidates include VEGFR2 inhibitors, buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), c-SRC inhibitors, as well as PI3K inhibitors. They also showed that cells expressing the gene ZNF217 were more resistant to chemotherapy, suggesting that this gene could be good target for new therapies. For HER2 positive breast cancers, the Dream Team focused on the development and characterization of tumor cell lines model that demonstrate either acquired or de novo resistance to two different drugs: lapatinib or trastuzamab. Analyses of these preclinical data are ongoing, and potential targets will be selected for in vivo validation studies. The Dream Team also reported an interesting correlation between a deficiency in the product of the gene RAD51, and strong response to chemotherapy for triple negative breast cancers. Finally, the Dream Team developed a method to identify cancer stem cells (CSCs) in breast cancer cell lines. They reported data indicating that Herceptin may target those CSCs when used in combination with a chemotherapeutic agent.
12 month milestones
In this period, the Dream Team continued their preclinical studies to determine how resistance arises in each subtype of breast cancer, and the best drugs that can be employed to overcome this resistance. Some of the planned targets, such as c-SRC, failed to be confirmed as drug resistance mechanisms in ER positive breast cancers. They began planning clinical trials to test other potential targets, such as VEGFR2, or cdk-4/6. Positive results for HER2 positive breast cancers were reported as the Team identified the loss of PTEN, combined with mutations in the PI3K pathway, as a potential mechanism of resistance. The Dream Team also reported the results of clinical trials demonstrating that the drugs Lapatinib and Trastuzumab have a synergistic effect when used in combination.
The "discovery group" within the Dream Team assembled and classified several hundred breast cancer cell lines, and the bioinformatics Team began working to extract novel information from this large dataset. Progress on 3D models of breast cancer cells was also reported. There, the Team has made the interesting observation that those cells in the outer layer in 3D cultures seem to be protected from treatment with PI3K inhibitors. Their next step was to explore the molecular mechanism responsible for this phenomenon.
18 month milestones
At the half-way point, the Dream Team translated some of their preclinical studies into the clinic; multiple clinical trials were started for each of the different types of breast cancers, and more were still in the planning phase. The Dream Team also reported extensive preclinical evaluation of T-DM1, a HER2-targeted agent which appears to be effective against HER positive breast cancer cell lines, even when Trastuzumab and/or Lapatinib failed. The Dream Team reported on their continued effort to discover new targets and agents for triple negative breast cancers, particularly those targeting DNA repair pathways which tend to be crippled in many triple negative breast cancers. Of note, the product of the gene PTPN12 seems to act as a tumor suppressor by interfering with the activity of a number of receptor tyrosine kinases, and appears to be mutated in 5% of triple negative breast cancers and absent from as many as 60%. This finding suggests that Sunitinib (or Crizotinib) and Lapatinib might have beneficial activity against these tumors.
The Team also reported follow-up studies based on their observation that cells located in the outer layer of 3D cultures were activating a variety of survival signaling pathways leading to treatment resistance. They confirmed that this phenomenon was also evident for model breast cancer cells propagated in vivo, and for breast cancer tissue specimens in women treated with anti-breast cancer agents. These preclinical experiments have nominated combinations of targeted drugs and the BCL-2 antagonist ABT-737 for future clinical trials.
24 month milestones
At the two year mark, the Dream Team had made significant progress at integrating "omics" data from various sources. They launched the SU2C Cancer Genomics Browser that contains both SU2C-generated and other published data from hundreds of cell lines. Most of the data from other platforms, such as those generated by other SU2C Dream Teams, or non SU2C-affiliated laboratories, can be easily ported to the SU2C Cancer Genomics Browser and added to the collection.
The Team also continued to make progress in defining both prognostic and predictive genomic signatures. Notably, their preclinical work using cell lines and animal models led to the identification of genes potentially involved in the development of resistance to hormone therapy. These included MEK1/2, mTOR, B1-intergrin, FAK, c-Src, and PTEN. From these efforts, a new clinical trial was planned to test the effect of specific inhibitors of MEK1/2, mTOR, B1-intergrin, and FAK.
The studies on the effect of the microenvironment on drug sensitivity continued moving forward with linkages to the clinical research components of the Team. Specifically, the up-regulation of Bcl-2 in the microenvironment suggested that it might create an opportunity for combination therapy using a Bcl-2 antagonist. The Dream Team also reported plans to move forward with a PARP inhibitor that was shown to be 100-fold more potent than other agents currently in the clinic; a phase I trial was initiated. The Dream Team plans to take the drug into trials for ER positive and HER2 positive breast cancers.
30 month milestones
By the end of this period, the Dream Team has initiated or joined a significant portfolio of breast cancer clinical trials, clearly contributing to improving breast cancer outcomes. Of note are attempts to improve treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer using the new drug T-DM1. A neoadjuvant trial of the conjugate given in alone and in various combinations (including with Pertuzumab and no cytotoxic chemotherapy) should discern the magnitude of the treatment effect. Another promising study involves the new PARP inhibitor BMN-673 that appears to be so much more potent that the other existing PARP inhibitors.
The Dream Team reported a fascinating opportunity for triple negative breast cancers with PTPN12, which is lost in 65-70% of triple negative breast cancer cases, exhibits tumor suppressor actions when reintroduced into breast cancer cells devoid of the enzyme. The Team is now exploring the possibility of a clinical trial with sunitinib and crizotinib, two drugs that are FDA-approved and marketed by Pfizer; contacts with the oncology development group at Pfizer have been initiated.
Also, several key preclinical concepts generated by the Team are advancing to clinical assessment. For instance, the Team has continued its effort to tease apart mechanisms of adaptive resistance to targeted drugs exhibited by breast cancer cells in the context of 3D cultures. They identified the gene Bcl-2 as a critical component of treatment resistance. The Dream Team reported a number of clinical observations that provide a strong rationale for the use of Bcl-2 antagonists in combination with HER2 treatment.
The various screens using shRNA libraries developed by the Dream Team since the inception of the project appear to have the potential to discriminate adaptive versus selected resistance mechanisms. Several screens have been completed; others are in the pipeline. Finally, the combined cell line screening studies and enhanced bioinformatics efforts have begun to produce genomic signatures related to drug sensitivity and resistance as well as prognosis for different breast cancer types and are suggesting ways to link drugs to treatment of cancers with specific genomic signatures. The Team intends to disseminate data and analysis tools broadly to other SU2C-funded Dream Teams and eventually the broader scientific community.
36 month milestones
During this last period of the initial grant term, the Dream Team has continued to make significant progress in all studies initiated. They have completed some, and will pursue others through monies leveraged from other sources. The Team has continued to develop the work demonstrating the role of Bcl-2 in breast cancer cell survival, including the possible use of Bcl-2 inhibitors (e.g., ABT-737) in breast cancer treatment. They have also continued their efforts to develop the new PARP inhibitor (BMN-763) for possible use in breast cancer patients. Supplemental funding of $1.0 million was approved to allow a subset of the original Dream Team to translate these two promising avenues of research into the clinic.
In this period, the Team reports the development of a robust system to assess genomic aberrations and drug responses in cells grown on cell spot microarrays (CSMA). Numerous studies are now underway using this system. Analyses of the 32 completed genome-wide RNAi screens using the third generation shRNA library (74,304 shRNAs targeting > 19,000 genes) have also continued; data has been analyzed for 16 of the 32 so far. For the sequencing, the Team has transitioned to high capacity platforms and developed a new protocol that will allow completion of sequencing in the first half of 2013. The Team has continued to develop and improve computational methods to analyze and visualize the wealth of data generated by this and other SU2C-funded Dream Teams. These include: PARADIGM, PARADIGM- SHIFT, Differential Pathway Signature Correlation (DiPSC), and the SU2C Cancer Genome Browser.
The Haussler group is requesting further support from SU2C to support the UCSC Cancer Genomics Browser as a common resource to service all SU2C teams. The browser will be a platform for data sharing, and provides a coherent mechanism for teams to release data to the public. The browser will serve as a living data portal to view, access and retrieve past and current SU2C team data. As each team concludes their projects, the datasets generated under their awards could be made available at a common site that provides storage and retrieval, dynamic access and online exploration. If funded, The Haussler lab would work with all the teams to process and host their data sets
How much? Since Stand Up To Cancer was founded in May 2008, we have granted $161 Million Dollars to ten Dream Teams of scientists and researchers, one international translational research team and 26 high-risk, high-reward Innovative Research Grants.
100% of public funds go directly into research grants. A portion of the funds that are raised from major donations and third-party fundraising go towards administrative expenses and overhead.
Learn more about The SU2C Funding Model
3. Is there a "cap" on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell? No cap, the more money, the more funding for research.
4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breastcancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breastcancer epidemic? I went to the website store. They sell clothes, blankets, pet sweaters & leases, jewelry, tennis shoes, blankets, cups, buttons etc. all with the StandUp2Cancer Logo. Nothing I saw would contain any toxins. -
Now I e-mailed my word document to myself, copied it over here & still all the garbage shows up. It looks fine on the 'preview' but is full on symbols when I submit. When I am in 'edit' they disappear, so I can't even clean it up!
edited to note that I am quitting for the night! -
Financial Performance Metrics
Program Expenses
(Percent of the charity’s budget spent on the programs
and services it exists to deliver)
77.6%
Administrative Expenses
9.7%
Fundraising Expenses
12.5%
Fundraising Efficiency
$0.18
Primary Revenue Growth
13.2%
Program Expenses Growth
27.7%
Working Capital Ratio (years)
0.54 -
ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! -
O.K. Here you go. StandUp2Cancer is one of the charities funded by the Entertainment Industry Foundation. First is the breakdown of the entire foundation, and second I have addressed StandUp2Cancer itself:
Entertainment Industry Foundation
1201 West Fifth Street
Suite T-700
Los Angeles, CA 90017
tel: (213) 240-3900
fax: (213) 481-3100
EIN: 95-1644609
Contact Email
Visit Web SiteNow I e-mailed my word document to myself, copied it over here & still all the garbage shows up. It looks fine on the 'preview' but is full on symbols when I submit. When I am in 'edit' they disappear, so I can't even clean it up!
Created in 1942, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) was established on the belief that the entertainment industry was in a unique position to truly help others. EIF harnesses the collective power of the entertainment industry and channels its unique assets to raise awareness and funds for critical health, educational and social issues in order to make a positive impact in our community and throughout the nation. Annually, the Entertainment Industry Foundation funds more than 300 charitable organizations within the greater Los Angeles area and throughout the nation.
ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION NTEE Code T70 NTEE Classification Fund Raising Organizations That Cross Categories NTEE Type Philanthropy, Voluntarism and Grantmaking Foundations Classification Charitable Organization Subsection 501(c)(3) (View the list of codes) Activities (561) Gifts or grants to individuals (other than scholarships)
Foundation Status Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) Deductibility Contributions are deductible Affiliation Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). Group Name [Not Applicable] Exempt Organization Status Unconditional Exemption
Score (out of 70) Rating
FYE 12/2011
Overall 61.34
Financial 57.76
Accountability & Transparency 70.00
Financial Performance Metrics
Program Expenses
(Percent of the charity’s budget spent on the programs
and services it exists to deliver) 77.6%
Fundraising Expenses 12.5%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.18
Primary Revenue Growth 13.2%
Program Expenses Growth 27.7%
Working Capital Ratio (years) 0.54
Accountability & Transparency Performance Metrics Information Provided on the Form 990 (my note: all these areas are checked 'yes') Independent Voting Board Members
No Material diversion of assets Audited financials prepared by independent accountant Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From related parties Documents Board Meeting Minutes Provided copy of Form 990 to organization's governing body in advance of filing Conflict of Interest Policy Whistleblower Policy Records Retention and Destruction Policy CEO listed with salary Process for determining CEO compensation Board Listed / Board Members Not Compensated
Is the following information easily accessible on the charity's website? (my note: all these areas are checked 'yes') Donor Privacy PolicyBoard Members Listed Audited Financials Form 990 Key staff listed
Contributions
Contributions, Gifts & Grants
$36,788,081
Federated Campaigns
$0
Membership Dues
$0
Fundraising Events
$4,457,791
Related Organizations
$0
Government Grants
$0
Total Contributions
$41,245,872
Program Service Revenue
$0
$41,245,872
$158,865
TOTAL REVENUE
$41,404,737
$46,468,144
$5,850,145
$7,534,816
$59,853,105
$0
Excess (or Deficit) for the year
$-18,448,368
$32,603,989
Compensation of Leaders (FYE 12/2011)
Paid to
Title
$414,855
0.69%
Lisa Paulsen
President, CEO
http://www.standup2cancer.org/mission_statement
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C is bringing together the best and the brightest researchers and encouraging collaboration instead of competition among the entire cancer community. By galvanizing the entertainment industry, SU2C creates awareness and builds broad public support for this effort.
SU2C’s unique funding model, developed with the help of prominent cancer researchers, encourages collaboration and innovation through two new types of scientific grant.
Dream Team grants are awarded to multi-institutional groups of scientists who work collaboratively, rather than competitively, to develop new treatments quickly in order to save lives now. To learn more about SU2C’s Dream Teams, please click here.
SU2C-St. Baldrick’s Pediatric Cancer Dream Team: Immunogenomics to Create New Therapies for High-Risk Childhood Cancers SU2C-CRI Dream Team: Immune Checkpoint Blockade and Adoptive Cell Transfer in Cancer Therapy SU2C-PCF2 Dream Team: Targeting Adaptive Pathways in Metastatic Treatment-Resistant Prostate Cancer SU2C-PCF Dream Team: Precision Therapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer SU2C-MRA Dream Team: Personalized Medicine for Patients with BRAF Wild-Type (BRAFwt) Cancer An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotype Bringing Epigenetic Therapy to the Forefront of Cancer Management Bioengineering and Clinical Applications of Circulating Tumor Cell Chip Cutting the Fuel Supply: A New Approach to the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer Targeting PI3K in Women’s Cancers
Innovative Research Grants support groundbreaking cancer research projects that are high-risk but could also be high-impact, and have the potential to significantly affect patient care. To learn more about the recipients of SU2C’s Innovative Research Grants, click here.
Innovative Research Grants 2009
Innovative Research Grants 2011
Latest News
2011 IRG 18 Month Progress Reports
2009 IRG 12 Month Progress Reports
2009 IRG 24 Month Progress Reports
2011 IRG 6 Month Progress Reports
1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? and 2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic?
An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotype
Funding: $16.5 million
Leader: Joe W. Gray, Ph.D., professor and chair, biomedical engineering department, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, and Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., director of clinical/translational research at the University of California Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Project Background
During the past several years, researchers have come to understand that breast cancer is not a single disease but rather a spectrum of conditions that vary in their biology and response to treatment. Understanding breast cancer’s molecular diversity has been the driving force leading to the development of new treatments for this disease. Researchers are rapidly moving beyond the "one size fits all" approach into a new era in which breast cancer treatments will be tailored to the biology of the tumor. This project will address the most significant issues related to the three major subtypes of breast cancer — ER positive, HER2 positive, and triple negative (simultaneously ER negative, PR negative and HER2 negative) and will use that information to develop innovative, less toxic therapies with the potential to improve the treatment outcomes for women with this disease.
One of the primary obstacles to effective cancer treatment is the ability of cancer cells to become resistant to treatments that are initially effective. Over a period of time, cancer cells are able to develop ways of "outsmarting" the drugs and agents designed to kill them, a phenomenon known as drug resistance. This Dream Team will study the driving mechanisms that lead to drug resistance in the three major breast cancer subtypes. Understanding resistance opens the door to developing innovative therapeutic agents that overcome this critical problem.
Another area of interest is in the role that cancer stem cells play in resistance. Researchers now realize that the growth and spread of many cancers, including breast cancers, are influenced by the existence of these stem cells which are often highly resistant to otherwise effective treatments. The Team will study the ways in which this unique malignant cell population operates across the three major breast cancer subtypes, knowledge that could be important to the developing new treatments for breast as well as other major cancers.
One critical component of this study will be to bring together the vast amount of information that exists about breast cancer into an integrated data base that will form a "discovery platform", or basis for identifying and validating new drug combinations and targets that can be pursued in clinical trials. The Team expects that these efforts will lead to significantly improved therapies for breast cancer, especially the most difficult to treat forms, within the three-year period.
Status Update
6 month milestones
In the first six months, the Dream Team focused on implementing a variety of integrated approaches to identify novel targets and mechanisms that may lead to later stage clinical trials opportunities. These so-called "discovery" studies included the development of (1) techniques that can measure drug impacts on single cells; (2) xenografts model from human tissues; and (3) 2D and 3D assays to examine the interaction of tumor cells with their environment in response to drug treatment. In addition, they completed the construction of a library of "short hairpin RNAs" (shRNAs) that will be used to systematically inactivate genes in order to identify potential new targets for therapy. The Dream Team also established a state-of-the-art bioinformatics and data analysis platform aimed at maximizing multi-site communication and collaboration.
On the clinical side, the Dream Team made progress in the validation of new drug treatments to circumvent anti-hormone resistance in ER positive breast cancers. Potential candidates include VEGFR2 inhibitors, buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), c-SRC inhibitors, as well as PI3K inhibitors. They also showed that cells expressing the gene ZNF217 were more resistant to chemotherapy, suggesting that this gene could be good target for new therapies. For HER2 positive breast cancers, the Dream Team focused on the development and characterization of tumor cell lines model that demonstrate either acquired or de novo resistance to two different drugs: lapatinib or trastuzamab. Analyses of these preclinical data are ongoing, and potential targets will be selected for in vivo validation studies. The Dream Team also reported an interesting correlation between a deficiency in the product of the gene RAD51, and strong response to chemotherapy for triple negative breast cancers. Finally, the Dream Team developed a method to identify cancer stem cells (CSCs) in breast cancer cell lines. They reported data indicating that Herceptin may target those CSCs when used in combination with a chemotherapeutic agent.
12 month milestones
In this period, the Dream Team continued their preclinical studies to determine how resistance arises in each subtype of breast cancer, and the best drugs that can be employed to overcome this resistance. Some of the planned targets, such as c-SRC, failed to be confirmed as drug resistance mechanisms in ER positive breast cancers. They began planning clinical trials to test other potential targets, such as VEGFR2, or cdk-4/6. Positive results for HER2 positive breast cancers were reported as the Team identified the loss of PTEN, combined with mutations in the PI3K pathway, as a potential mechanism of resistance. The Dream Team also reported the results of clinical trials demonstrating that the drugs Lapatinib and Trastuzumab have a synergistic effect when used in combination.
The "discovery group" within the Dream Team assembled and classified several hundred breast cancer cell lines, and the bioinformatics Team began working to extract novel information from this large dataset. Progress on 3D models of breast cancer cells was also reported. There, the Team has made the interesting observation that those cells in the outer layer in 3D cultures seem to be protected from treatment with PI3K inhibitors. Their next step was to explore the molecular mechanism responsible for this phenomenon.
18 month milestones
At the half-way point, the Dream Team translated some of their preclinical studies into the clinic; multiple clinical trials were started for each of the different types of breast cancers, and more were still in the planning phase. The Dream Team also reported extensive preclinical evaluation of T-DM1, a HER2-targeted agent which appears to be effective against HER positive breast cancer cell lines, even when Trastuzumab and/or Lapatinib failed. The Dream Team reported on their continued effort to discover new targets and agents for triple negative breast cancers, particularly those targeting DNA repair pathways which tend to be crippled in many triple negative breast cancers. Of note, the product of the gene PTPN12 seems to act as a tumor suppressor by interfering with the activity of a number of receptor tyrosine kinases, and appears to be mutated in 5% of triple negative breast cancers and absent from as many as 60%. This finding suggests that Sunitinib (or Crizotinib) and Lapatinib might have beneficial activity against these tumors.
The Team also reported follow-up studies based on their observation that cells located in the outer layer of 3D cultures were activating a variety of survival signaling pathways leading to treatment resistance. They confirmed that this phenomenon was also evident for model breast cancer cells propagated in vivo, and for breast cancer tissue specimens in women treated with anti-breast cancer agents. These preclinical experiments have nominated combinations of targeted drugs and the BCL-2 antagonist ABT-737 for future clinical trials.
24 month milestones
At the two year mark, the Dream Team had made significant progress at integrating "omics" data from various sources. They launched the SU2C Cancer Genomics Browser that contains both SU2C-generated and other published data from hundreds of cell lines. Most of the data from other platforms, such as those generated by other SU2C Dream Teams, or non SU2C-affiliated laboratories, can be easily ported to the SU2C Cancer Genomics Browser and added to the collection.
The Team also continued to make progress in defining both prognostic and predictive genomic signatures. Notably, their preclinical work using cell lines and animal models led to the identification of genes potentially involved in the development of resistance to hormone therapy. These included MEK1/2, mTOR, B1-intergrin, FAK, c-Src, and PTEN. From these efforts, a new clinical trial was planned to test the effect of specific inhibitors of MEK1/2, mTOR, B1-intergrin, and FAK.
The studies on the effect of the microenvironment on drug sensitivity continued moving forward with linkages to the clinical research components of the Team. Specifically, the up-regulation of Bcl-2 in the microenvironment suggested that it might create an opportunity for combination therapy using a Bcl-2 antagonist. The Dream Team also reported plans to move forward with a PARP inhibitor that was shown to be 100-fold more potent than other agents currently in the clinic; a phase I trial was initiated. The Dream Team plans to take the drug into trials for ER positive and HER2 positive breast cancers.
30 month milestones
By the end of this period, the Dream Team has initiated or joined a significant portfolio of breast cancer clinical trials, clearly contributing to improving breast cancer outcomes. Of note are attempts to improve treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer using the new drug T-DM1. A neoadjuvant trial of the conjugate given in alone and in various combinations (including with Pertuzumab and no cytotoxic chemotherapy) should discern the magnitude of the treatment effect. Another promising study involves the new PARP inhibitor BMN-673 that appears to be so much more potent that the other existing PARP inhibitors.
The Dream Team reported a fascinating opportunity for triple negative breast cancers with PTPN12, which is lost in 65-70% of triple negative breast cancer cases, exhibits tumor suppressor actions when reintroduced into breast cancer cells devoid of the enzyme. The Team is now exploring the possibility of a clinical trial with sunitinib and crizotinib, two drugs that are FDA-approved and marketed by Pfizer; contacts with the oncology development group at Pfizer have been initiated.
Also, several key preclinical concepts generated by the Team are advancing to clinical assessment. For instance, the Team has continued its effort to tease apart mechanisms of adaptive resistance to targeted drugs exhibited by breast cancer cells in the context of 3D cultures. They identified the gene Bcl-2 as a critical component of treatment resistance. The Dream Team reported a number of clinical observations that provide a strong rationale for the use of Bcl-2 antagonists in combination with HER2 treatment.
The various screens using shRNA libraries developed by the Dream Team since the inception of the project appear to have the potential to discriminate adaptive versus selected resistance mechanisms. Several screens have been completed; others are in the pipeline. Finally, the combined cell line screening studies and enhanced bioinformatics efforts have begun to produce genomic signatures related to drug sensitivity and resistance as well as prognosis for different breast cancer types and are suggesting ways to link drugs to treatment of cancers with specific genomic signatures. The Team intends to disseminate data and analysis tools broadly to other SU2C-funded Dream Teams and eventually the broader scientific community.
36 month milestones
During this last period of the initial grant term, the Dream Team has continued to make significant progress in all studies initiated. They have completed some, and will pursue others through monies leveraged from other sources. The Team has continued to develop the work demonstrating the role of Bcl-2 in breast cancer cell survival, including the possible use of Bcl-2 inhibitors (e.g., ABT-737) in breast cancer treatment. They have also continued their efforts to develop the new PARP inhibitor (BMN-763) for possible use in breast cancer patients. Supplemental funding of $1.0 million was approved to allow a subset of the original Dream Team to translate these two promising avenues of research into the clinic.
In this period, the Team reports the development of a robust system to assess genomic aberrations and drug responses in cells grown on cell spot microarrays (CSMA). Numerous studies are now underway using this system. Analyses of the 32 completed genome-wide RNAi screens using the third generation shRNA library (74,304 shRNAs targeting > 19,000 genes) have also continued; data has been analyzed for 16 of the 32 so far. For the sequencing, the Team has transitioned to high capacity platforms and developed a new protocol that will allow completion of sequencing in the first half of 2013. The Team has continued to develop and improve computational methods to analyze and visualize the wealth of data generated by this and other SU2C-funded Dream Teams. These include: PARADIGM, PARADIGM- SHIFT, Differential Pathway Signature Correlation (DiPSC), and the SU2C Cancer Genome Browser.
The Haussler group is requesting further support from SU2C to support the UCSC Cancer Genomics Browser as a common resource to service all SU2C teams. The browser will be a platform for data sharing, and provides a coherent mechanism for teams to release data to the public. The browser will serve as a living data portal to view, access and retrieve past and current SU2C team data. As each team concludes their projects, the datasets generated under their awards could be made available at a common site that provides storage and retrieval, dynamic access and online exploration. If funded, The Haussler lab would work with all the teams to process and host their data sets
How much? Since Stand Up To Cancer was founded in May 2008, we have granted $161 Million Dollars to ten Dream Teams of scientists and researchers, one international translational research team and 26 high-risk, high-reward Innovative Research Grants.
100% of public funds go directly into research grants. A portion of the funds that are raised from major donations and third-party fundraising go towards administrative expenses and overhead.
Learn more about The SU2C Funding Model
3. Is there a "cap" on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell? No cap, the more money, the more funding for research.
4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breastcancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breastcancer epidemic? I went to the website store. They sell clothes, blankets, pet sweaters & leases, jewelry, tennis shoes, blankets, cups, buttons etc. all with the StandUp2Cancer Logo. Nothing I saw would contain any toxins.
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O.K. Here you go. StandUp2Cancer is one of the charities funded by the Entertainment Industry Foundation. First is the breakdown of the entire foundation from Charity Navigator, and second I have addressed StandUp2Cancer itself (also through Charity Navigator):
Entertainment Industry Foundation
1201 West Fifth Street
Suite T-700
Los Angeles, CA 90017
tel: (213) 240-3900
fax: (213) 481-3100
EIN: 95-1644609
Mission: Created in 1942, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) was established on the belief that the entertainment industry was in a unique position to truly help others. EIF harnesses the collective power of the entertainment industry and channels its unique assets to raise awareness and funds for critical health, educational and social issues in order to make a positive impact in our community and throughout the nation. Annually, the Entertainment Industry Foundation funds more than 300 charitable organizations within the greater Los Angeles area and throughout the nation.
Score (out of 70) Rating
Overall 61.34
Financial 57.76
Accountability & Transparency 70.00
Financial Performance Metrics
Program Expenses (Percent of the charity’s budget spent on the programs and services it exists to deliver) 77.6%
Administrative Expenses 9.7%
Fundraising Expenses 12.5%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.18
Primary Revenue Growth 13.2%
Program Expenses Growth 27.7%
Working Capital Ratio (years) 0.54
Accountability & Transparency Performance Metrics Information Provided on the Form 990 (my note: all these areas are checked 'yes' in the critique) Independent Voting Board Members, No Material diversion of assets, Audited financials prepared by independent accountant, Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From related parties, Documents Board Meeting Minutes, Provided copy of Form 990 to organization's governing body in advance of filing, Conflict of Interest Policy, Whistleblower Policy, Records Retention and Destruction Policy, CEO listed with salary, Process for determining CEO compensation, Board Listed / Board Members Not Compensated
Is the following information easily accessible on the charity's website? (my note: all these areas are checked 'yes' in the critque) Donor Privacy Policy, Board Members Listed, Audited Financials Form 990, Key staff listed
Contributions
Contributions, Gifts & Grants$36,788,081
Federated Campaigns$0
Membership Dues$0
Fundraising Events$4,457,791
Related Organizations$0
Government Grants$0
Total Contributions$41,245,872
Program Service Revenue$0
Total Primary Revenue$41,245,872
Other Revenue$158,865
TOTAL REVENUE$41,404,737
EXPENSES
Program Expenses$46,468,144
Administrative Expenses$5,850,145
Fundraising Expenses$7,534,816
TOTAL FUNCTIONAL EXPENSES$59,853,105
Payments to Affiliates$0
Excess (or Deficit) for the year $-18,448,368
Net Assets$32,603,989
Compensation of Leaders:
Compensation $414,855 0.69% of Expenses
Paid to Lisa PaulsenPresident, CEO
http://www.standup2cancer.org/mission_statement
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C is bringing together the best and the brightest researchers and encouraging collaboration instead of competition among the entire cancer community. By galvanizing the entertainment industry, SU2C creates awareness and builds broad public support for this effort.
SU2C’s unique funding model, developed with the help of prominent cancer researchers, encourages collaboration and innovation through two new types of scientific grant.
Dream Team grants are awarded to multi-institutional groups of scientists who work collaboratively, rather than competitively, to develop new treatments quickly in order to save lives now.
Innovative Research Grants support groundbreaking cancer research projects that are high-risk but could also be high-impact, and have the potential to significantly affect patient care.
1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? and 2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic? Here is the project one of the Dream Teams is working on:
An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotypes
Funding: $16.5 million
Leader: Joe W. Gray, Ph.D., professor and chair, biomedical engineering department, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, and Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., director of clinical/translational research at the University of California Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Project Background
During the past several years, researchers have come to understand that breast cancer is not a single disease but rather a spectrum of conditions that vary in their biology and response to treatment. Understanding breast cancer’s molecular diversity has been the driving force leading to the development of new treatments for this disease. Researchers are rapidly moving beyond the "one size fits all" approach into a new era in which breast cancer treatments will be tailored to the biology of the tumor. This project will address the most significant issues related to the three major subtypes of breast cancer — ER positive, HER2 positive, and triple negative (simultaneously ER negative, PR negative and HER2 negative) and will use that information to develop innovative, less toxic therapies with the potential to improve the treatment outcomes for women with this disease.
One of the primary obstacles to effective cancer treatment is the ability of cancer cells to become resistant to treatments that are initially effective. Over a period of time, cancer cells are able to develop ways of "outsmarting" the drugs and agents designed to kill them, a phenomenon known as drug resistance. This Dream Team will study the driving mechanisms that lead to drug resistance in the three major breast cancer subtypes. Understanding resistance opens the door to developing innovative therapeutic agents that overcome this critical problem.
Another area of interest is in the role that cancer stem cells play in resistance. Researchers now realize that the growth and spread of many cancers, including breast cancers, are influenced by the existence of these stem cells which are often highly resistant to otherwise effective treatments. The Team will study the ways in which this unique malignant cell population operates across the three major breast cancer subtypes, knowledge that could be important to the developing new treatments for breast as well as other major cancers.
One critical component of this study will be to bring together the vast amount of information that exists about breast cancer into an integrated data base that will form a "discovery platform", or basis for identifying and validating new drug combinations and targets that can be pursued in clinical trials. The Team expects that these efforts will lead to significantly improved therapies for breast cancer, especially the most difficult to treat forms, within the three-year period.
Status Update
6 month milestones
In the first six months, the Dream Team focused on implementing a variety of integrated approaches to identify novel targets and mechanisms that may lead to later stage clinical trials opportunities. These so-called "discovery" studies included the development of (1) techniques that can measure drug impacts on single cells; (2) xenografts model from human tissues; and (3) 2D and 3D assays to examine the interaction of tumor cells with their environment in response to drug treatment. In addition, they completed the construction of a library of "short hairpin RNAs" (shRNAs) that will be used to systematically inactivate genes in order to identify potential new targets for therapy. The Dream Team also established a state-of-the-art bioinformatics and data analysis platform aimed at maximizing multi-site communication and collaboration.
On the clinical side, the Dream Team made progress in the validation of new drug treatments to circumvent anti-hormone resistance in ER positive breast cancers. Potential candidates include VEGFR2 inhibitors, buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), c-SRC inhibitors, as well as PI3K inhibitors. They also showed that cells expressing the gene ZNF217 were more resistant to chemotherapy, suggesting that this gene could be good target for new therapies. For HER2 positive breast cancers, the Dream Team focused on the development and characterization of tumor cell lines model that demonstrate either acquired or de novo resistance to two different drugs: lapatinib or trastuzamab. Analyses of these preclinical data are ongoing, and potential targets will be selected for in vivo validation studies. The Dream Team also reported an interesting correlation between a deficiency in the product of the gene RAD51, and strong response to chemotherapy for triple negative breast cancers. Finally, the Dream Team developed a method to identify cancer stem cells (CSCs) in breast cancer cell lines. They reported data indicating that Herceptin may target those CSCs when used in combination with a chemotherapeutic agent.
12 month milestones
In this period, the Dream Team continued their preclinical studies to determine how resistance arises in each subtype of breast cancer, and the best drugs that can be employed to overcome this resistance. Some of the planned targets, such as c-SRC, failed to be confirmed as drug resistance mechanisms in ER positive breast cancers. They began planning clinical trials to test other potential targets, such as VEGFR2, or cdk-4/6. Positive results for HER2 positive breast cancers were reported as the Team identified the loss of PTEN, combined with mutations in the PI3K pathway, as a potential mechanism of resistance. The Dream Team also reported the results of clinical trials demonstrating that the drugs Lapatinib and Trastuzumab have a synergistic effect when used in combination.
The "discovery group" within the Dream Team assembled and classified several hundred breast cancer cell lines, and the bioinformatics Team began working to extract novel information from this large dataset. Progress on 3D models of breast cancer cells was also reported. There, the Team has made the interesting observation that those cells in the outer layer in 3D cultures seem to be protected from treatment with PI3K inhibitors. Their next step was to explore the molecular mechanism responsible for this phenomenon.
18 month milestones
At the half-way point, the Dream Team translated some of their preclinical studies into the clinic; multiple clinical trials were started for each of the different types of breast cancers, and more were still in the planning phase. The Dream Team also reported extensive preclinical evaluation of T-DM1, a HER2-targeted agent which appears to be effective against HER positive breast cancer cell lines, even when Trastuzumab and/or Lapatinib failed. The Dream Team reported on their continued effort to discover new targets and agents for triple negative breast cancers, particularly those targeting DNA repair pathways which tend to be crippled in many triple negative breast cancers. Of note, the product of the gene PTPN12 seems to act as a tumor suppressor by interfering with the activity of a number of receptor tyrosine kinases, and appears to be mutated in 5% of triple negative breast cancers and absent from as many as 60%. This finding suggests that Sunitinib (or Crizotinib) and Lapatinib might have beneficial activity against these tumors.
The Team also reported follow-up studies based on their observation that cells located in the outer layer of 3D cultures were activating a variety of survival signaling pathways leading to treatment resistance. They confirmed that this phenomenon was also evident for model breast cancer cells propagated in vivo, and for breast cancer tissue specimens in women treated with anti-breast cancer agents. These preclinical experiments have nominated combinations of targeted drugs and the BCL-2 antagonist ABT-737 for future clinical trials.
24 month milestones
At the two year mark, the Dream Team had made significant progress at integrating "omics" data from various sources. They launched the SU2C Cancer Genomics Browser that contains both SU2C-generated and other published data from hundreds of cell lines. Most of the data from other platforms, such as those generated by other SU2C Dream Teams, or non SU2C-affiliated laboratories, can be easily ported to the SU2C Cancer Genomics Browser and added to the collection.
The Team also continued to make progress in defining both prognostic and predictive genomic signatures. Notably, their preclinical work using cell lines and animal models led to the identification of genes potentially involved in the development of resistance to hormone therapy. These included MEK1/2, mTOR, B1-intergrin, FAK, c-Src, and PTEN. From these efforts, a new clinical trial was planned to test the effect of specific inhibitors of MEK1/2, mTOR, B1-intergrin, and FAK.
The studies on the effect of the microenvironment on drug sensitivity continued moving forward with linkages to the clinical research components of the Team. Specifically, the up-regulation of Bcl-2 in the microenvironment suggested that it might create an opportunity for combination therapy using a Bcl-2 antagonist. The Dream Team also reported plans to move forward with a PARP inhibitor that was shown to be 100-fold more potent than other agents currently in the clinic; a phase I trial was initiated. The Dream Team plans to take the drug into trials for ER positive and HER2 positive breast cancers.
30 month milestones
By the end of this period, the Dream Team has initiated or joined a significant portfolio of breast cancer clinical trials, clearly contributing to improving breast cancer outcomes. Of note are attempts to improve treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer using the new drug T-DM1. A neoadjuvant trial of the conjugate given in alone and in various combinations (including with Pertuzumab and no cytotoxic chemotherapy) should discern the magnitude of the treatment effect. Another promising study involves the new PARP inhibitor BMN-673 that appears to be so much more potent that the other existing PARP inhibitors.
The Dream Team reported a fascinating opportunity for triple negative breast cancers with PTPN12, which is lost in 65-70% of triple negative breast cancer cases, exhibits tumor suppressor actions when reintroduced into breast cancer cells devoid of the enzyme. The Team is now exploring the possibility of a clinical trial with sunitinib and crizotinib, two drugs that are FDA-approved and marketed by Pfizer; contacts with the oncology development group at Pfizer have been initiated.
Also, several key preclinical concepts generated by the Team are advancing to clinical assessment. For instance, the Team has continued its effort to tease apart mechanisms of adaptive resistance to targeted drugs exhibited by breast cancer cells in the context of 3D cultures. They identified the gene Bcl-2 as a critical component of treatment resistance. The Dream Team reported a number of clinical observations that provide a strong rationale for the use of Bcl-2 antagonists in combination with HER2 treatment.
The various screens using shRNA libraries developed by the Dream Team since the inception of the project appear to have the potential to discriminate adaptive versus selected resistance mechanisms. Several screens have been completed; others are in the pipeline. Finally, the combined cell line screening studies and enhanced bioinformatics efforts have begun to produce genomic signatures related to drug sensitivity and resistance as well as prognosis for different breast cancer types and are suggesting ways to link drugs to treatment of cancers with specific genomic signatures. The Team intends to disseminate data and analysis tools broadly to other SU2C-funded Dream Teams and eventually the broader scientific community.
36 month milestones
During this last period of the initial grant term, the Dream Team has continued to make significant progress in all studies initiated. They have completed some, and will pursue others through monies leveraged from other sources. The Team has continued to develop the work demonstrating the role of Bcl-2 in breast cancer cell survival, including the possible use of Bcl-2 inhibitors (e.g., ABT-737) in breast cancer treatment. They have also continued their efforts to develop the new PARP inhibitor (BMN-763) for possible use in breast cancer patients. Supplemental funding of $1.0 million was approved to allow a subset of the original Dream Team to translate these two promising avenues of research into the clinic.
In this period, the Team reports the development of a robust system to assess genomic aberrations and drug responses in cells grown on cell spot microarrays (CSMA). Numerous studies are now underway using this system. Analyses of the 32 completed genome-wide RNAi screens using the third generation shRNA library (74,304 shRNAs targeting > 19,000 genes) have also continued; data has been analyzed for 16 of the 32 so far. For the sequencing, the Team has transitioned to high capacity platforms and developed a new protocol that will allow completion of sequencing in the first half of 2013. The Team has continued to develop and improve computational methods to analyze and visualize the wealth of data generated by this and other SU2C-funded Dream Teams. These include: PARADIGM, PARADIGM- SHIFT, Differential Pathway Signature Correlation (DiPSC), and the SU2C Cancer Genome Browser.
The Haussler group is requesting further support from SU2C to support the UCSC Cancer Genomics Browser as a common resource to service all SU2C teams. The browser will be a platform for data sharing, and provides a coherent mechanism for teams to release data to the public. The browser will serve as a living data portal to view, access and retrieve past and current SU2C team data. As each team concludes their projects, the datasets generated under their awards could be made available at a common site that provides storage and retrieval, dynamic access and online exploration. If funded, The Haussler lab would work with all the teams to process and host their data sets
How much money? Since Stand Up To Cancer was founded in May 2008, we have granted $161 Million Dollars to ten Dream Teams of scientists and researchers, one international translational research team and 26 high-risk, high-reward Innovative Research Grants.
100% of public funds go directly into research grants. A portion of the funds that are raised from major donations and third-party fundraising go towards administrative expenses and overhead.
3. Is there a "cap" on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell? No cap; the more money raised, the more funding there is for research.
4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breastcancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breastcancer epidemic? I went to the website store and looked at all their products. They sell clothes, blankets, pet sweaters & leases, jewelry, tennis shoes, blankets, cups, buttons etc. all with the StandUp2Cancer Logo. Nothing I saw would contain any toxins.
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Good Grief! I finally got it on, I am now going to have a drink! Well, I see I didn't totally get is as there is the <font> symbols still in there, but it is better than before! -
I finished my StandUp2Cancer post late last night and just wanted to add a few points:
* First, for those of you whose eyes glaze over with information overload. What I learned about SU2C is that it is a good organization to donate too. Charity Navigator gave it's parent group, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a perfect rating 70 of 70 points for accountability and transparency.100% of public donations are put into research. Administrative fees, salaries etc. come out of corporate donations. So if you are interested in research on many fronts in the fight against cancer, SU2C is a good option.
* I would encourage you to go on the StandUp2Cancer website and look around. They are organizing and funding some interesting and exciting research.
* Sheila wanted me to say a few words about the research process. Other than watching some of their telethons, I really didn't know anything about the workings of SU2C before yesterday. By using Charity Navigator and Sheila's questions (which I will list again below), I was able to narrow down the information I was looking for and could quickly put together the above post (one day's work). One note is that you might have to dig a little in the beginning. For instance, SU2C was not on the Charity Navigator list. By looking around the web, I found out that they are one of the charities of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Once I knew that, I could punch the Entertainment Industry Foundation into Charity Navigator, and the rest was easy.
Questions:
1. Does any money from this purchase go to support breast cancer programs? How much? (What % goes to recipients and/or research and what % administrative costs?)
2. What organization will get the money? What will they do with the funds, and how do these programs turn the tide of the breast cancer epidemic
3. Is there a "cap" on the amount the company will donate? Has this maximum donation already been met? Can you tell? .
4. Does this purchase put you or someone you love at risk for exposure to toxins linked to breast cancer? What is the company doing to ensure that its products are not contributing to the breast cancer epidemic? -
Anyone wondering what all the deletes are about---We are working the bugs out of using the tools identified in the header
It's a process Sassy -
working on k o men
At gym now. Doesnt look good will post figures later. Everything's right on the komen site -
Wow kayb, your last paragraph is searing to a thought. We may dislike Brinker and feel she is WHATEVER, but the reality if the support the Komen money is cut off ---a lifeline to help may be lost for many
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kayB- never the less I must say as a Stage IV BC struggler. I have never seen one dime of ANY of my services -costs ever paid for by anyone but myself. NO human hair wig- synthetic had to do. $450. Undergarments purchased by myself when no bra would fit or be comfortable - in 2006 it was difficult to even find chemo head beenies, mostly online for a price many women cannot afford. Even my own family donated to Komen back then. Now we find out that much of the money goes to planned parent hood ( which I do believe in) but has nothing to do with BC.
27% overhead seems way too much for over head and then another huge amount spent on planning the coming years fundraiser. I would just like to see actual numbers on where the rest of the donations go.
I would like to see money being spent of late stage BC as well. We can encourage women to get mammograms but most insurance companies have an age 40 or over to be covered at all and then only every 2 years.
The last straw today is seeing the White House displayed in hot pink- insulting to many of us.
Sorry for the rant- 6 weeks of radiation to blame am afraid. -
GrammyR, join us on Pinktober Revolution The links in the header Sassy -
Grammy R, I'm with you on the White House going pink. I said to my husband that I think everyone is aware of breast cancer now let's move on from that and find something that can prevent it or cure it without the maiming affects. -
Hi , back in Oct/Nov, I worked on contacting the KayYow cancer fund. I had email issues. Sarah Womack has responded. It's a wonderful letter , but doesn't quite answer the questions in the topic thread. At the time I thought it might work out as a mechanism to reduce work in evaluating different funds, but that won't be the case.
Here's the letter with my name deleted.
"Thanks so much for your email and questions. Our staff and Board of Directors believes wholeheartedly in the mission and vision that Coach Kay Yow impressed upon her Foundation, so we are always happy to answer any questions or concerns that our donors and supporters may have. We also feel that what you are doing serves a very important role in helping women and their families make decisions.
The questions you provided, from Think Before You Pink, seem to be drafted for companies trying to sell a product and claiming that a portion of the proceeds will benefit a breast cancer charity. The Kay Yow Cancer Fund is not selling a product or service for profit. Our mission is strictly to raise funding to be used for scientific research, assisting the underserved and unifying people for a common cause.
First, a bit of general information to clarify a few of our partnerships. Because of Coach Yow's great friendship with her coaching colleagues nationwide, it made sense for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund to partner with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Kay Yow Cancer Fund is the official charity of the WBCA, which provides a lot of support, especially during our largest initiative, Play 4Kay.
The V Foundation for Cancer Research is another partner organization. Our relationship with The V Foundation stems from Coach Yow's friendship with her NC State coaching colleague, the late Jim Valvano. One of the best aspects of our partnership with The V Foundation is that we are able to use their scientific advisory committee in our grant allocation process. The scientific advisory committee is comprised of some of the top oncologists and research doctors in the country. They review all of our research proposals and grade them based on merit, recommending the top projects to our Board for funding.
Of the $8 million dollars that we have raised, $2.615 million has been awarded to women's cancer research and we will be announcing another $1.215 million in grants this Spring, with future projects under consideration. You asked about Charity Navigator, this is a site that requires 5 years worth of IRS filings in order to be listed. Once the 2013 Financial Statements and Form 990 are finalized, we will have completed our 4th year of filing. We look forward to the opportunity to be evaluated by Charity Navigator and will strive to meet the highest standards.
In response to your questions regarding breast cancer, I want to be clear to specify that our organization provides funding for scientific research in all areas of women's cancer, not just breast cancer. I encourage you to check out the institutions and projects that we have funded in the past and hope that you will continue to check back on our website as we announce research grants this Spring and in the future.http://kayyow.com/the-fund/research-and-grants/
Thank you so much for your questions and concern. I hope that you will not hesitate to contact our office if you have additional questions.
Sincerely,
Sarah Womack"
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Bump, I did BCO based on questions
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