New Registry of Gynaecologic Oncologists
We have started developing a list of gynae/oncs willing to work with GCT patients, or provide a 2nd opinion on GCT cases.

If your oncologist would like to be included, have them drop us an email.

Please Note: Donating Tissue is a Way to Fight Back
We are working with the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) to develop a tissue bank of GCT tumours.

If you are considering, or have recently gone through surgery to remove GCT, please consider donating some of your tissue.

The entire process is coordinated and paid for by NDRI so there is no cost involved on your part, and all you have to do is contact them, tell them you want to donate some tissue, and then sign the consent form they send you.

To get started, contact our NDRI representive:
Daniel C. Remer BA, CTBS
Rare Disease Program, Manager
National Disease Research Interchange
8 Penn Center, 15th Floor
1628 JFK Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19103
800.222.6374, ext 257 (after hours a call centre takes your message)
dremer@ndriresource.org

New! Separated by Oceans, United by Cause
It is a busy few weeks coming up for our runners! What stands out is that we have two brilliant women who will each be doing their 2nd marathon.

They are on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Jamie in Ohio and May in the UK, but both prove that while many "talk the talk" about helping research, it is a special person that steps up to "walk the walk"
(or should that be "run the run")!

Jamie, as you may know, is one of our warriors and started her marathon career at Disney in January. May is a lovely Brit who we met at the Guernsey marathon last August, and she has volunteered to try and help us raise funds even though she has no direct connection to GCT.
A true volunteer!

Both of them have been doing the hard work all winter leading up to their events. May runs on 29 April in the Milton Keynes marathon and Jamie runs a week later, 6 May, in "The Pig" in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Please, do what you can to help these runners know that all of their hard work, and pain on the day, is at least going to result in furthering research on GCT. Every little bit helps, so tell your friends and colleagues, also. Just click here, or the link in the right-hand menu.

Remember, it takes individual drops of rain to create a puddle!

New! Research Update From Finland
Our research team in Helsinki, led by Dr. Mikko Anttonen, has provided us an introduction to the whole team plus an update on the work they are currently doing for us. It is great to learn a bit about the "people" who are working for us, as well as what they are doing. Click here and catch up!

Help From Abroad
Towards the end of 2011, we received an amazing donation from one of our UK members, Wendy, in Northern Ireland.

She had decided to raise some research funds by putting together a community event and in the end we received more than $3,000! We asked Wendy for advice on how she put the event together and she had this to say.

This type of event would be quite common in Northern Ireland, the music artists over here would support charity events on a regular basis. My aunt has been running a similiar event like this every year in May for 'Action Cancer' one of the biggest cancer charities here. Over the last 15 years she has raised approx £50,000 and when she heard that I was wanting to raise some funds for GCTF, she offered to help me run a cabaret night, as she had the relevant contacts.

We picked a Thur night as the artists all gave up their time free of charge, where they wouldn't have at the weekend as they have their own engagements. The fact it was during the week meant that a few people couldn't make it due to family committments, also on the night it was one of the wettest evenings we had seen in a long time, but given that we had over 100 people attending, making it a very enjoyable night, many have asked when the next one will be.

I received many donations from those who couldn't make it. To enhance the funds I decided to make up two hampers one containing £50 worth of food the other £30 worth of cosmetics, we sold raffle tickets a few weeks before the cabaret night, and drew out the winning tickets on the night, this was well supported and raised approx £600 of the final total. I didn't notice the cost of the hampers, I just bought a few extra items while shopping each week, and was able to make a 3rd hamper which was auctioned on the night.

To be honest everything went to plan and it wasn't that difficult to organise, I was grateful to my aunt as organising the artists and a suitable date would have taken the most time, also she was able to get the venue free of charge, which was a function room behind a local public house where she would attend regularly.

It would be great if others could raise some funds to aid the research. For me to be told that there's a cure would be the best news ever as I beleive there must be a cure out there.

Everything You Wanted to Know About GCT!
OK, maybe not everything or maybe more than you wanted to know!

Our first-ever intern, Haley Roberts, has written a report based on her research experience in Auckland, NZ during June-July. She spent 5 weeks in the lab with Dr. Shelling and our research crew watching GCT wiggle around in petri dishes, looking at reams of data all the testing produces, and from that has compiled her "GCT for Dummies".

Have a read, even make a copy for your doctor, and if you have any questions, ask Haley! (she can be found through our GCTF Warriors group)

GCT Research
Roseanne Rosario, one of our researchers in NZ, recently made a presentation at an international conference in Milan, Italy.

It presents more information on the nature of the FOXL2 gene.

Check it out (uses popup window)

And read the latest update from Dr. Andrew Shelling and our New Zealand research team (uses popup window)

GCT in the News
Haley has followed up her "GCT for Dummies" with a recent round of multimedia reports about her experience, the foundation, and her determination to make a difference.

Check them out if you haven't already.

Pittsburgh CBS News
the Almanac - a local Pittsburgh Newspaper

Powel, meanwhile, ran his way into the news in Christchurch
and was a pre-race topic in Guernsey Marathon Newsletter

Wanted: Researchers to Investigate GCT
GCTRF is dedicated to finding an effective treatment and is interested in providing funds for researchers who would work with us towards that goal.

If you are a researcher, with an interest in GCT research, we invite you to consider submitting a research grant application. You can find more information about our grant program by clicking here.
Our funding window for next year closes on 31 March, 2012.

GCT Survivors Weekend Presentations
We've posted the currently available materials from our weekend at the link below.
Click here.

Website Issues with Internet Explorer 8 or 9
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While we try to resolve the issue, please try an alternate browser (e.g. Firefox, Chrome, Opera) or try the workaround shown here.

We apologise for the inconvenience and please let us know any time you have a problem with our site!

Welcome to the Granulosa Cell Tumour Research Foundation

Granulosa cell tumours (GCT) are a rare form of ovarian cancer.   Statistics show that they make up a relatively small percentage of all ovarian cancers and GCT has therefore received less attention from researchers than some other cancers.

Because GCT is rare, many oncologists are not readily familiar with the disease, few claim to be specialists in its treatment, and some doctors, reportedly, still think that GCT is not considered to be a cancer.

Founded in 2004 as Granulosa Cell tumour Foundation New Zealand, our mission is to:

• Provide women with information about this disease and give them knowledge that they can share, in turn, with their medical team; and
• Raise money to support GCT-specific research with the goal of developing more effective treatments

Why we push for research

One of the most common descriptions of GCT in the medical community is: "Granulosa cell tumor of the ovary is an uncommon tumor of low malignant potential (LMP)" and many articles add that GCT has a "low rate of recurrence".

Often this is presented as a comforting factor, implying that you do not have to worry that much about recurrence or dying of the disease.   It is also known, however, that "Low-grade ovarian cancers and LMP tumours generally resist conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy."    Several articles have also stated that 50% - 80% of women with recurrent GCT will die from the disease, just as our Founder, Sladjana (Sofi) Crosley, did.

That is why we need research on GCT and why we have established the "Sladjana M. Crosley Fund for GCT Research".  This is not always a "benign" disease and can recur at any point over your lifetime, even up to 35 years after your diagnosis.  

We need Supporting Members

Medical discoveries don't happen without research, and research doesn't happen without a steady flow of funding.  Because we know that GCT tends to be non-responsive to normal, cytotoxic chemotherapy we have commissioned research designed to find molecular pathways through which GCT might be better controlled, and possibly cured.   We need you to support this battle and want to enlist you as a "GCTRF Supporting Member".   For a minimum, annual donation of at least $25 NZD, or more if you can possibly afford it, we will register you as a "GCTRF Supporting Member". By clicking on the "Donate Today" link you make a statement to yourself and us that you recognise the importance of this research and are joining the fight!

In return, we will provide you with every bit of insight and information we can muster to help you and your medical team.   This includes complete updates from our research teams as we receive them; unrestricted access to our Case History database; the right to post messages on our forum; periodic newsletters from the foundation; and more services we are continuing to develop.

GCTRF is a registered, 100% volunteer foundation

The foundation is registered with New Zealand Inland Revenue and the US Internal Revenue Service.  When you donate to GCTRF you can depend on 100% of that donation going to researchers due to the fact that we are a totally volunteer organisation and have received a private grant to cover operating expenses.   We pay no salaries and no director's fees.  When you donate your hard-earned money you deserve to know that it is going to the purposes for which you donated!