The director of the Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin says a $15 million gift to the center will go for research into what are called rare cancers.
Dr. Gustavo Leone says what researchers classify as rare cancers make up more than 25% of all cancer diagnoses. But he says 180 types of cancer qualify as rare, making it harder to attract the same level of government and private funding that typically go to more common types of cancer.
"In some cases, we don't know where the cancers are coming from, but they end up in all parts of the body," Leone tells WUWM.
One of the rare cancers is choroid plexus carcinoma (CPC), which is a brain cancer typically affecting children.
Sophie Michels was diagnosed with CPC a decade ago. She's the daughter of Tim and Barbara Michels, who are making the donation, along with the Michels Family Foundation.
After three surgeries at Children's Wisconsin, and rounds of chemotherapy, Sophie is considered a cancer survivor. She joined her parents at a ceremony Friday morning announcing the donation.
Leone says another type of rare cancer is sarcoma, that typically occurs in the bones and soft tissues that support body structures.
He says the donation will help invest in new faculty, "who are incredibly bright. But also to identify people who are already here doing work highly relevant to rare cancers, and empowering them to do the kinds of research and understanding."
Leone says one key is to study the biology of cancer, defined by cancer.gov as malignant growth due to uncontrolled cell division.
Leone says, "From understanding the biology, we can then imagine, depending on the genetic aberrations, including environmental factors that patients might have been exposed to, we start making associations, we start having questions — or what we call in science, hypotheses — and then we test them in cells, in tissues, and then obviously, in clinical trials."
Leone calls the $15 million gift, "fundamental and transformative."
