Back to Blog

Ferrari Owners’ Club of New Zealand – Official Charity

The Gut Cancer Foundation is thrilled to have been chosen as the Official Charity for the Ferrari Owner’s Club of New Zealand (FOCNZ), for 2022. Founded in 1986 by a group of enthusiastic racers who originally wanted to create a register of Ferrari’s in the country, FOCNZ has gone from strength to strength. The Club has a constantly growing membership, which currently stands at 260. Together, they represent a significant percentage of the Ferrari’s currently resident in New Zealand. FOCNZ ...

THYmine2 moves to analysis stage

Following ongoing difficulties in recruiting patients due to the impact of COVID-19, the THYmine2 study has closed to recruitment. Despite the ongoing difficulties, the research team successfully recruited 166 patients out of a target of 200. This success was down in part to the funding provided by GCFsupporters which was used to employ a clinical trials manager to help expand recruitment across a total of 5 sites.Final follow-up at the sites is almost complete and data analysis has co...

GIVE IT UP for Gut Cancer

Be it sugar, alcohol or even couch-potato-ing, Kiwis across the country are once again being asked to give up their favourite vice for one month to help raise awareness and funding for the country’s most deadly group of cancers. The inaugural ‘GIVE IT UP’ campaign was held last March to raise funds to find better ways to detect, diagnose and treat the seven deadly gut cancers – a group which includes bowel, pancreatic and stomach cancers and leads to the deaths of eight Kiwis every day. ...

PCAM 2021 a ‘shining’ success

As the 2021 Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month comes to an end we are delighted to share an overview of this year’s campaign, the numbers behind it, and the fantastic coverage we received....

The Project Shines A Light on Pancreatic Cancer

The Shine A Light for Pancreatic Cancer Campaign received more great coverage this week as The Project aired a report highlighting the campaign. The piece featured GCF’s pancreatic cancer ambassadors, Nyree Smith, and Andy Kirk, talking about their personal experiences living with and losing loved ones to pancreatic cancer. The report also focused on GCF’s funding of the ASCEND trial with our Scientific Advisory Committee member, Dr Sharon Pattison discussing the potentially ground-breaking ...

World Pancreatic Cancer Day 2021

Thursday 18th November is World Pancreatic Cancer Day. Over 630 New Zealanders a year are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and only 12% of those diagnosed survive beyond 5 years. Incidence in New Zealand is on the increase. As the New Zealand representative organisation on the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition, we are joining with member organisations around the world to say ‘It’s about time’ to know about the symptoms, risk factors and research needed to find better ways to detect, diagno...

Shine a Light on Pancreatic Cancer

We are grateful to Newshub for this fantastic piece covering the Shine a Light on Pancreatic Cancer campaign. Our fantastic pancreatic cancer ambassador, Nyree Smith discusses her own cancer journey whilst Scientific Advisory Committee member, Dr Sharon Pattison talks about GCF’s funding of the ASCEND clinical trial:...

Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

How Kiwis Can Help Make A Difference This Pancreatic Awareness MonthPancreatic cancer has the lowest five-year survival rate of all major cancers (only 12%) and, tragically, the number of Kiwis being diagnosed is increasing. Because symptoms are often vague, and too many Kiwis don’t know how to reduce their risk, the race is on to secure vital funds for research, so that one day we have fewer ‘forgotten patients’ suffering from pancreatic cancer.This November the Gut Cancer Foundation (GCF...

ASCEND Clinical Trial – Funding Announcement

The Gut Cancer Foundation is delighted to announce a grant of $81,000 to help New Zealanders with advanced pancreatic cancer access a new clinical trial in 2022. Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rates of any major cancer. One of the major reasons is that symptoms are often very mild and can be easily missed or ignored. This results in most patients being diagnosed at an advanced stage, where the only curative option of surgery is no longer possible. Unfortunately, patients with newly di...

Gut Health Webinar

Why is gut health so important to our overall health and wellbeing? How can good gut health help you lose weight and in turn, help reduce your risk of gut cancers? What is the gut microbiome? Join the Gut Cancer Foundation for a FREE online talk with our partners from 4 Wheels of Health, nutritionist Sean Robertson and chef Simon Gault on Wednesday 27th October at 7pm to get the answer to these questions and more. Register for this FREE session here: *Once you have registered you will receive a ...

CANGO urges Government: Stop “shrugging your shoulders” at cancer deaths

The Alliance of Cancer NGOs (CANGO) is calling on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to urgently adopt the same hard-line, “zero tolerance” approach to cancer deaths that she is to COVID. “Recently, the Prime Minister made it clear that a principled approach to COVID means zero tolerance for preventable deaths,” Peter Fergusson, Chair of CANGO, said. “Why wouldn’t we take the same approach to the 10,000 cancer deaths we have each year in Aotearoa New Zealand, so many of which are preventa...

World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition Annual Meeting

The Gut Cancer Foundation is proud to represent New Zealand as part of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition (WPCC). Every year, the coalition of global charities and patient advocacy groups comes together for its annual meeting. This was the first opportunity the Gut Cancer Foundation has had to be involved, as last year’s event was cancelled completely due to COVID. This time around, a group of over 100 pancreatic cancer experts and advocates met virtually, and GCF Executive Officer Liam Wil...

Big Purple Dinner

The Gut Cancer Foundation is excited to announce the launch of a new fundraising initiative in support of research and awareness for pancreatic cancer. Over 600 New Zealanders are will die from pancreatic this year alone and sadly pancreatic cancer has the worst survival rate of any major cancer meaning these numbers are expected to rise. By 2025, pancreatic cancer is projected to be the 4th largest cause of cancer deaths in New Zealand. At GCF we want to help address these stark facts and suppo...

PanCan Gala

As we head towards this year’s Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November, we have an exciting announcement to make. On Friday, November 19th, the inaugural PanCan Gala will take place at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The vision of a dedicated and skilled committee of pancreatic cancer advocates led by GCF ambassador Nyree Smith, the gala will be an elegant formal evening with amazing entertainment in a stunning venue, all dedicated to improving outcomes for New Zealanders with pancreat...

Pharmac Review

Recently, the Gut Cancer Foundation made a comprehensive submission to the independent review panel set up by the Government to conduct a review of PHARMAC. Speaking about the submission, Executive Officer Liam Willis said, “the standard of care given for a number of gut cancers in New Zealand falls behind many other OECD countries. Not only does this impact Kiwis getting access to the latest and best treatment options, but it also prevents New Zealanders from participating in international cl...

Recruitment ramps up for THYmine2

After being severely impacted by COVID-19, the THYmine 2 study needed additional funding for a clinical trials manager to secure its viability and ensure the study was running at the highest standard across all five of its sites.At the time of making the application to GCF, the team led by Dr Nuala Helsby at the University of Auckland were some 70 patients short of the 200 needed to make the study viable. Thanks to the generosity of GCF supporters, the last 6 months have seen this potentially li...

Preliminary results of HCC study

Dr Cositha Santhakumar and the team at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland have released preliminary findings for their study into the role of the tumour microenvironment and its implication as a therapeutic target in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC is the most common form of primary liver cancer. Over 300 New Zealanders are diagnosed every year and the disease disproportionately impacts our Māori communities. Currently, immune checkpoint therapy (immunotherapy) ...

TOPGEAR completes recruitment

The TOPGEAR clinical trial has now completed recruitment!TOPGEAR is a vital trial trying to determine the best combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery to improve cure rates for patients with gastric (stomach and oesophageal) cancer. After 12 years, TOPGEAR has completed patient recruitment. Opening to patient recruitment in 2009, the TOPGEAR study team initially established the Australian sites before moving to develop international recruitment in 2013. Establishing 70 sites in Eur...

Kiwi Car Loans partnership

We are excited to announce a new partnership with our friends at Kiwi Car Loans and Credit One. This will be a multi-faceted and wide-ranging partnership with the team at Kiwi Car Loans and Credit One providing invaluable digital marketing expertise together with financial, marketing, and fundraising support for Gut Cancer Foundation’s ongoing calendar of events, campaigns, and appeals. Gut Cancer Foundation’s Executive Officer Liam Willis says “We are extremely grateful to Kiwi Car Loans ...

Read our latest eNewsletter

Read GCF’s quarterly eNewsletter here for the latest in the research, awareness, and fundraising made possible by your support....

GIVE IT UP raises $100k!

This March over 630 Kiwis signed up to GIVE IT UP for gut cancer, with participants giving up either sugar, alcohol, or the sofa for the entire month. The GIVE IT UP campaign was created to raise vital funds to find better ways to detect, diagnose and treat gut cancers and raise awareness that reducing obesity, alcohol intake, and increasing exercise can all help reduce the risk of developing them. On both counts, the campaign was hugely successful. We are incredibly grateful to all those who pa...

GCF at GISIG!

Our Executive Officer, Liam Willis, recently presented at the latest Gastro-Intestinal Special Interest Group (GISIG) summit.GISIG members include medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, registrars, cancer nurses, and researchers who are specialists in the field of gut cancer treatment. The group meets to discuss the latest in treatment options and clinical trials, discuss and share best practice, and ensure participants are up to speed with the latest in global advances in the tre...

New funding for THYmine2 study

We are delighted to announce funding to support the extension of the THYmine2 study. This clinical study is investigating whether a test can be created to determine if patients receiving 5FU (fluoropyrimidine), a chemotherapy drug commonly used in the treatment of bowel and stomach cancer, are susceptible to potentially life-threatening side effects.A significant proportion of patients being treated with 5FU could suffer a reaction, causing a delay in treatment and sometimes dangerous symptoms. ...

HCC research shows promise

Dr Cositha Santhakumar was awarded $35,000 to study the role of the tumour microenvironment and its implication as a therapeutic target in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC is the most common form of Liver cancer accounting for 90% of all diagnosis in New Zealand. Despite initial setbacks in recruitment because of COVID-19, Dr Santhakumar has made excellent progress with her investigations. To date, the team have recruited sixteen cases for their study. Through analysing liver cancer tissue, t...

GCF appoints new ambassador

The Gut Cancer Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of Briony O’Farrell as our latest ambassador. After losing her father to pancreatic cancer in 2019, Briony has become a passionate advocate for those affected by pancreatic cancer. She has established the Pancreatic Cancer Aotearoa / New Zealand (PCANZ) support group for pancreatic cancer patients and their loved ones and recently played a key role in GCF’s “It’s About Time” pancreatic cancer awareness month. GCF EO Lia...