Golfers Against Cancer
2011 Summary

2011 was our 3rd year for raising funds for cancer research in Denver. This year with the gala and golf tournament we were able to make a contribution to the University of Colorado Cancer Center (UCCC) in the amount $96,000. These funds will go to two different projects at UCCC. The first project is focused on Bladder Cancer. The second relates to Hepatitis C infections, inflammation and liver cancer. Both are cutting edge studies. Over the past three years with donations and matching the Denver chapter has raised $300,000 that has been given to UCCC. As an all-volunteer organization, our commitment is strong because of the contributions of our volunteers and sponsors. GAC events for cancer research provide vehicles for individuals and corporations to participate and contribute in the search for a cure for cancer. We continue to fund promising research projects and follow their results. Two projects we have funded in the first two years have gone on to receive close to $2 million in additional grants. We want to thank all of you who have participated and chose to support GAC. We look forward to what we can accomplish in 2012.

Golfers Against Cancer
2010 Summary

2010 was our 2nd year for raising funds for cancer research in Denver. It was a very successful year with the addition of a golf tournament along with the dinner and donating $70,000 to the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Please click here to read an article published by the UCCC on GAC and our donation. As an all volunteer organization, our commitment is strong because of the contributions of our volunteers and sponsors. GAC and the Dinners and Golf Tournaments for Cancer Research provide vehicles for individuals and corporations to participate and contribute in the search for a cure for cancer. We continue to fund promising cancer research projects and follow their results. In fact part of the 2009 donation helped a research project receive a grant for over $1 million dollars. We want to thank all of you who have participated and chose to support our events. We look forward to what we can accomplish in 2011.

2010 check presentation to UCCC

2010 Funded Project 1

2010 Funded Project 2

Study pinpoints and plugs mechanism of
AML cancer cell escape.

Project Directors: 
Wells Messersmith, MD and Colin Weekes, MD
University of Colorado Cancer Center

The University of Colorado Cancer Center (UCCC) used funds received in 2009 from the Golfers Against Cancer Denver Chapter to develop a gastrointestinal (GI) cancer tumor bank focused on colorectal and pancreas cancer.

Cancer research often uses samples of tumors donated by a patient during surgery. Over the past several years, UCCC has developed banks of these samples, which are linked with detailed information about each tumor in a database. Using the physical samples and data, researchers can investigate ideas such as factors that lead to tumor response to treatment and patient prognosis.

UCCC is integrating the GI tumor bank with other UCCC tumor banks, including breast cancer and melanoma, to allow researchers to identify similarities and differences between tumors that develop in different places in the body, including particular molecular or gene defects that characterize each tumor. Simultaneously, the UCCC GI cancer program has developed a tumor bank to help develop new molecular-targeted cancer drugs.

While new, these resources are already impacting the work of UCCC GI cancer researchers. Dr. Wells Messersmith, a colorectal cancer physician and researcher received a $1.25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, thanks in part to his ability to use specimens collected in the GI tumor bank. Dr. Messersmith will use the grant to develop new colorectal cancer drugs that target a molecule involved in cell growth and movement.

The GI Tumor Bank will continue to be a resource that facilitates research advances in our understanding of GI cancers and for the development of molecular-targeted therapies for them.