Rare Cancers: Great Unmet Needs

Rare cancers are not rare.

Collectively, rare cancers impact nearly 200,000 Americans annually and represent as many as one-third of all cancers. Despite the prevalence, these cancers are poorly understood, infrequently studied and underfunded compared to common tumor types such as breast, lung, colon and prostate cancers. Rare cancers represent a major health care problem in the United States and around the world. As physicians, researchers and advocates we are called to construct a pathway that will lead to better outcomes and healthier survivors.

The Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center together with the Jed Ian Taxel Foundation for Rare Cancer Research, invite you to join them on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 for a CME conference, “Rare Cancers: Great Unmet Medical Needs”. This one-day symposium will feature leading rare cancer experts in medicine, research, public policy and advocacy, including Nita Seibel, MD, Senior Investigator, National Cancer Institute (NIH); Greg Simon, former executive director, White House Cancer Moonshot; and Catharine Young, MD, former executive director, SHEPHERD Foundation and a leading policy advocate for rare cancer.

Attendees will hear about specific types of rare cancers with the goal of developing new treatment paradigms based on an improved understanding of the molecular biology of this heterogeneous group of diseases. Attendees will learn about advocacy efforts that have successfully increased funding for rare cancer research, how continued advocacy can impact future federal funding and policies for rare cancers and how to access funding pipelines to bring to market diagnostics, therapies and lifesaving treatments. Attendees will receive CME credits for their participation.

This CME conference is open to both the patient advocacy community and medical professionals. Leading experts in rare cancer medicine, research, public policy, and advocacy will share their insights at this hybrid event (on location and virtual).