Addressing the Challenges of R&D for Rare Cancer Therapies

Rare cancers, like other rare diseases, face the challenges of mustering research attention, access to patients and biological materials, and generating the interest of drug developers. Nevertheless, as a group, rare cancers are the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. The Rare Cancer Research Foundation is seeking to change the research and development landscape in rare cancer by bringing together patient organizations and researchers and building the necessary pieces needed to advance research and the development of therapeutics. We spoke to Barbara Van Hare, Director of Foundation Partnerships at The Rare Cancer Research Foundation, about the rare cancer landscape, how the foundation is forging collaborations between patient groups and researchers, and how its Pattern.org project is developing a crucial source of biological samples to advance research.