WHY PATIENT ADVOCACY AS A FUNDRAISING MODEL FOR OVARIAN CANCER?
The ITI-OC’s harnessing of patient advocacy as a model for funding new drug discovery for a treatment for ovarian cancer is an increasingly prevalent trend in many areas of clinical investigation as a result of the following current trends in funding for orphan diseases:
- Traditional biotech and pharmaceutical company funding of experimental and new ovarian cancer treatments is limited by the relatively low volume of occurrences of this cancer
- Dramatic recent cutbacks in government (NIH) funding for biomedical research
- Extensive time lags associated with foundation grant funding
In addition to the potential fundraising benefits of using patient advocacy to drive funding for research for ovarian cancer, a patient advocacy model is also important to help women become educated about ovarian cancer and their treatment options due to:
- The high number of “myths” associated with the disease
- Widespread lack of understanding among woman about the risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options
- Delayed diagnosis; Symptoms of ovarian cancer are often not readily recognizable by many health care professionals leading to 80% of cases being diagnosed in advanced stages and associated with low survival rates.
- Limited knowledge and communication about current clinical trials by primary care physicians and Ob/Gyn’s with their patients
- The low prevalence of women with ovarian cancer being treated by a gynecologic oncologist
Due to these factors, patient advocacy and increased philanthropic funding for breakthrough research to treat ovarian cancer has become both important and critical to ensure successful and timely progress against this deadly disease.