2024 Impact Report

From funding research to continuing education programs and patient advocacy, there are countless ways that people contribute to conquering cancer. But none of it would be possible without you. In 2024, your generosity enabled us to continue providing oncology professionals with the resources they need to advance lifesaving care for every patient.

600+ grants and awards distributed in 2024

Building Careers Dedicated to Patient-Centered, Lifesaving Research

As a child, Dr. Kekoa Taparra witnessed the impact that limited cancer care access can have on remote populations—including within his own family. Growing up in a small community on the island of O‘ahu in Hawai‘i, he watched cancer pick its way through family member after family member. His aunt faced endometrial cancer. His uncle, prostate cancer. A younger cousin, neuroblastoma. And these are just a few of the many ways this disease has touched the lives of Dr. Taparra and his loved ones.

This loss of life—and a commitment to serve communities like his own—ultimately inspired Dr. Taparra to pursue a career in oncology. Today, thanks to your generosity, he’s seeing that commitment through, and he’s doing it in his own lab.

Supported by a Conquer Cancer grant, Dr. Taparra launched an innovative research project that’s using machine learning to pinpoint shortfalls in care and the drivers behind them. It’s also enabling him to better categorize these data, which are critical to ensuring every patient in his community receives the care they need.

“This award really demonstrates the interest and passion that Conquer Cancer has in supporting issues that are very important to me and my community,” Dr. Taparra told a crowd of supporters last year as the keynote speaker at an Evening to Conquer Cancer, an annual celebration attended by a broad audience of donors, advocates, supporters, physician-scientists, and others.

From behind the podium, Dr. Taparra shared candid family photos and heartfelt memories of seeing his loved ones endure various cancers. He also talked about the impact of his Conquer Cancer-funded research, both on his own career and in the community that raised him. “I am deeply grateful for Conquer Cancer's support,” he said, “as it amplifies the impact of our work.”

The impact of investing in early-career researchers is lasting, tangible, and immense. When you give to Conquer Cancer, you’re supporting the brilliant professionals who will ultimately shape the future of oncology and determine the outcomes of patient care for years to come. In 2024, your gifts helped connect the brightest minds in oncology with the resources they need to continue making life better for patients, whether through innovative research testing novel treatments or by uncovering new cures and improving supportive care. Along the way, you made a lifesaving impact for patients everywhere and helped ensure that crucial research innovations will persist for years to come.

$9M+ awarded to early-career investigators

Breakthrough Research: Dr. Suresh S. Ramalingam and Other Success Stories from the Field

Lung cancer has long exemplified the urgent need for lifesaving cancer research, particularly in the U.S., where it’s the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death. This sobering reality has underpinned the dedication of Dr. Suresh S. Ramalingam, a 2006 Conquer Cancer grant recipient, in his decades-long work to accelerate lung cancer research. His efforts reached a pinnacle at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting, where Dr. Ramalingam became the latest Conquer Cancer researcher to present groundbreaking research advances during the Plenary Session.

Viewed by nearly all conference attendees, the Plenary Session is a major focal point of every ASCO Annual Meeting, providing a platform for physician-scientists to share the most promising studies in the field of oncology.

As many Conquer Cancer grant recipients have before, Dr. Ramalingam took to the stage to present lifesaving highlights from his latest research. He also discussed the practice-changing results of the first-of-its-kind LAURA clinical trial. This study evaluated a promising drug following chemoradiotherapy in patients with a specific type of lung cancer, ultimately concluding that this treatment plan significantly improves progression-free survival for this group of patients.

Dr. Ramalingam is far from the only success story to arise from Conquer Cancer’s longstanding investment in early-career researchers. Around the world, the oncology landscape is dotted with physician-scientists whose careers began with funding made possible by generous donors like you—and whose careers are lined with milestones in patient care. Just a few of those success stories include:

• Dr. Roy Herbst, whose groundbreaking discoveries over more than three decades have led to personalized therapies for patients with non-small cell lung cancer. He went on to present at the ASCO Annual Meeting Plenary Sessions in 2020 and 2023, and he credits his Conquer Cancer support for helping him get started on this research path.

• Dr. Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade, whose discoveries have been pivotal in reducing the risk of hereditary diseases and elevating treatments for patients with breast cancer. Her Conquer Cancer-funded work has demonstrated the heightened breast cancer risks faced by younger women of African descent and has improved efforts for better screening and earlier detection.

• Dr. Antoni Ribas, whose groundbreaking work has remarkably improved treatment outcomes for patients with melanoma. His initial Conquer Cancer-funded project focused on exploring immunotherapy for targeting liver cancer. Dr. Ribas’s discoveries in this area paved the path for his subsequent work studying treatments for melanoma, ultimately resulting in accelerated drug approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2014.

We’ve seen remarkable progress in new cancer treatments and cures—many beginning with innovative research ideas from the brilliant physician-scientists you support. By funding a diverse field of promising oncology professionals, you enabled new and innovative research for patients facing all types of cancer—from the common to the rare—everywhere in the world.

51 countries represented by the 2024 class of grant and award recipients

Testing New Treatment Protocols and Supportive Care Strategies for Pediatric Patients with Burkitt Lymphoma in Malawi

When Dr. Rizine Mzikamanda, a pediatric oncologist based in Malawi, received a Conquer Cancer grant, he was determined to use that funding to improve research and care for pediatric patients with Burkitt lymphoma. This cancer, though rare in most parts of the world, is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa—and is made worse by high levels of malnutrition and limited resources.

This aggressive, fast-growing cancer requires intensive treatments that can prove intolerable for children, with side effects like sepsis, anemia, mucositis, and febrile neutropenia. Across this region of Africa, many pediatric patients also suffer from chronic malnutrition, which can significantly reduce survival. For Dr. Mzikamanda, better supportive care that accounts for these complex factors is essential to ensuring that more children with Burkitt lymphoma experience equitable outcomes.

Dr. Mzikamanda’s work addresses a major disparity in global cancer care: In the U.S., children with Burkitt lymphoma have more than an 80% survival rate. In African countries, however, the rate is around 40%.

“Conquering cancer,” he says, “means a child with Burkitt lymphoma in Africa has the same chance of survival as a child with the same disease in the U.S.”

Determined to improve care and outcomes for patients with Burkitt lymphoma, Dr. Mzikamanda used his Conquer Cancer funding to assess the feasibility of a more personalized treatment approach that considers treatment side effects and the unique needs of local populations. His primary goal? To develop and implement a supportive care strategy that better addresses the treatment challenges and disparities experienced by patients in Malawi and throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

“We know which treatments work best, which side effects are common, and how to administer the therapies,” Dr. Mzikamanda said. “The focus is really on making sure it’s done in a safe and effective way. If supportive care strategies are implemented to help children with Burkitt lymphoma in African settings better manage the side effects of treatment, then our patients are much likelier to complete treatment and reach better outcomes in the long term.”

2024 Financials^*

*Unaudited

 

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