The Foundation

The Thyroid, Head and Neck Cancer (THANC) Foundation was incorporated in April 2003 and has quickly grown to become the largest private funder of research in the country for these areas of cancer. In addition to research, THANC sponsors continuing professional medical education, community awareness and education, as well as patient outreach and support programs. Under the medical direction of Dr. Mark Urken, THANC has recently been housed within the Institute for Head and Neck and Thyroid Cancer at the Phillips Ambulatory Care Center at Beth Israel Medical Center.

Research

Continuing discoveries in genomics and molecular biology are spurring unexpected insights into better understanding thyroid, head and neck cancers. To build on these recent breakthroughs, THANC has awarded grants to outstanding senior and junior investigators. Their clinical and behavioral work has opened exciting new research pathways, developed earlier detection methods, and explored potentially more effective treatments. THANC has contributed to establishing a new molecular biology/working tissue culture laboratory. Encouraging and funding original research furthers our mission to find new therapies that help mitigate patients' suffering and functional impairment.

Accomplishments

• Created a new laboratory to investigate novel strategies for killing cancer cells with oncolytic viruses which are designed to kill head and neck cancer cells but not effect normal, healthy cells.
• Established the Mount Sinai Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Cancer Laboratory, a working tissue culture and molecular biology laboratory.
• Preliminary studies funded by the Foundation have created exciting new avenues of investigation and novel findings in cancers of the head and neck and thyroid.
• Launched a clinical research program in thyroid cancer. Which evaluated the psychosocial impact of early educational programs that are provided to patients and their families immediately following the diagnosis of these cancers.