Friends,

Current conditions prevent us from gathering at our traditional November gala event, but a pandemic cannot stop us from joining together to ensure that the search to find a cure for gastric (stomach) cancer continues.

Stomach cancer is not waiting on the sidelines. This year, over one million new cases will be diagnosed worldwide, and nearly 800,000 people will be lost to the disease. Since 2009, the Gastric Cancer Foundation has been focused on driving progress to find better treatments and, ultimately, a cure for stomach cancer. Even in this difficult environment, we have expanded our research initiatives and introduced new programs to assist patients and families. We intend to push forward aggressively, pandemic or not.

In lieu of our annual gala, we are appealing to you now to support our 2020 fundraising campaign. Please join with us to fuel the next wave of progress. By joining together during these difficult times, we honor the memories of those who have been lost and create greater hope for those who are bravely facing the disease today.

Please make a secure online donation here. Your contribution is tax-deductible.

With thanks and best wishes,

Paul Gottsegen, Board Chair
Jeff Schottenstein, Campaign Chair
Stacie Hershman, Executive Director

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Caring Community

Patients and caregivers are encouraged to join our safe and secure online community created exclusively for them. The active forum allows participants to ask questions, exchange information, share experiences and provide understanding support to one another.

Nutrition Series

The original Gesundheit Kitchen series features recipes and cooking tips from gastric cancer survivor Hans Rueffert, popularly known as the Chef Without A Stomach. Hans and a registered dietitian help families face the new challenges of eating without a stomach. With wit and optimism, Hans provides a valued voice of experence. All episodes, including the special livestream series produced during the pandemic, are archived on gastricancer.org.

Clinical Trials Navigator

Clinical trials should be considered during each patient’s treatment planning, but it can be difficult to obtain current and understandable information. Our free expert navigator service, available by telephone and online, helps patients identify studies that match their particular diagnosis and prepares them to discuss options with their treatment team.

gastriccancer.org

The Foundation website is a central resource for newly diagnosed patients and their caregivers who turn to us for authoritative information on the disease and how to live with the after effects of surgery and treatment.

Gastric Cancer Registry

The Foundation launched the first HIPAA-compliant registry at Stanford in 2011 to create a bridge between patients and the researchers who are seeking greater understanding and more effective methods of prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Tumor, blood and saliva samples undergo whole genome sequencing and sophisticated analyses. The newly developed Genome Explorer web portal – a comprehensive database of clinical and genomic information about gastric cancer u2013 provides a powerful new tool to make the data available to researchers around the globe.

Research Scholar Awards

The scarcity of funding for gastric cancer research discourages early-career investigators from focusing on this cancer type.u00a0 To address this problem, the Foundation partnered with the American Gastroenterological Association to create a permanent Research Scholar Award. Outstanding scholars receive three-year grants ($100,000 per year) to launch gastric cancer studies and build portfolios of work that make them competitive in seeking larger grants. The first three Research Scholars are:u00a0 Mohamad El-Zaatari, PhD (University of Michigan); Jose Saenz, MD, PhD (Washington University St. Louis); and Samuel Klempner, MD (Massachusetts General Hospital).

Translational Research Studies

Strategic one-year grants provide seed-funding for promising studies with the potential to bring new treatments to patients. Grants have been awarded to projects at Stanford Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Dana-Farber Cancer Center.

Published Research

More than a dozen papers reporting important findings from Foundation-funded research studies have been accepted and published in acclaimed journals. The growing library of published papers is available at gastriccancer.org.