In Honour of Goran Popovic
Over the past three years we've raised awareness, this year we're actively working towards increasing treatment and survival rates!
This year, we're raising funds for a vital, early detection clinical trial - Prosper-PANC. Prosper-PANC was launched this fall (2022) at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and aims to detect pancreatic cancer earlier through a simple blood sample (and genome sequencing) as an alternative to traditional diagnostic methods (e.g., ERCP and tumour biopsies).
Pancreatic cancer, and in particular pancreatic adenocarcinomas (pancreatic bile duct cancer) are incredibly difficult to biopsy and diagnose at an early stage as the tumour is typically only the size of the tip of a fingernail and hidden deep within the pancreas (a notoriously difficult organ to access and resect). As a result, pancreatic cancer is often only diagnosed once it has spread to other parts of the body, significantly limiting treatment options and survival rates.
Goran's case was no different, he fought symptoms for months, underwent numerous invasive (and inconclusive) biopsies to only be officially diagnosed twelve days prior to passing. Even prior to an official diagnosis, Goran was deemed palliative with no discussion or chance of treatment.
Genome sequencing through a single blood sample is beneficial to current and future pancreatic cancer patients as:
- it's a far less invasive diagnostic method
- it can provide earlier detection, resulting in more treatment possibilities
- it builds up the genome database of pancreatic cancer markers and provides more information on the characteristics of pancreatic tumours (which further increases the chances of early detection and treatment).
Data from the Prosper-PANC trial will be coupled with Hero-Pancreas, a second clinical trial that provides patients with advanced wearable tech to closely monitor and catch disease progression, particularly in between scans and doctor visits. Together these two clinical trials will fill vital research gaps and help create better, more efficient treatment options.
Our hopes are that through important clinical trials like Prosper-PANC, earlier detection of pancreatic cancer becomes a reality - ultimately giving patients a chance to fight, better quality of life and more time with their families.
Since Goran's passing in 2019, we've raised over $30,000 for pancreatic cancer research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, and $13,500 for seven new patient recliners for the gastrointestinal cancer unit (C3) at Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton.
Thank you for your support and love, and for helping us honour Goran.
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