The groundbreaking Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG) clinical trials program at the BC Cancer Agency is funded primarily by donations from the BC Cancer Foundation. POG looks at the specific mutations that cause cancer to develop in an individual. Doctors can then customize treatment options to target those mutations.

For patients like Zuri Scrivens, who enrolled in POG under the guidance of her oncologist, the study’s approach was able to pinpoint the exact mechanical drivers of her cancer and led to a precise treatment regime that has since kept Zuri’s disease at bay.

As of March, 2016, there are more than 700 patients who have been consented to POG. The next phase of this program, led by Medical Oncologist Dr. Janessa Laskin (pictured above) and Genome Sciences Director Dr. Marco Marra, will see the number of patients expand to 2,000, setting a global precedent both in terms of the diversity of cancers investigated and the number of participants.

POG is happening right here in B.C., right now, and new solutions are just waiting to be unlocked. But it takes generous supporters like you to ensure we can continue funding this work. For example, the cost for each patient to go through the program is about $27,000 and sequencing just one genome costs $3,500. And every penny comes from the BC Cancer Foundation and its generous donors.

So please, make a donation today and help us fund more cancer breakthroughs. You can learn more about the POG program in this video.