My name is Ariane Boyer, I am 22 years old. When I was 20, I was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. I had just started my first semester of university and suddenly my life changed.

Today I want to talk to you about sarcoma and why it is important to support patient care and research on these still obscure cancers.

Sarcomas are rare cancers that are difficult to treat. For patients, finding answers, getting a diagnosis and receiving proper treatment can be difficult.

I was fortunate enough to be treated by McGill Sarcoma, a team that specializes in the detection and treatment of sarcomas within the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and the Montreal General Hospital (MGH).

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McGill Sarcoma: A Wonderful Team

Being a McGill Sarcoma patient meant that I was treated by an excellent multidisciplinary team of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, orthopedic and general surgeons, as well as many other doctors and paramedical specialists, not to mention kind and caring nurses who really know how to put a person at ease.

Behind the scenes, the McGill Sarcoma team also contributes a lot to research in the field. McGill Sarcoma collaborates with scientists at the Research Institute of the MUHC and has an important network of national partners. In Quebec, it is the only team doing fundamental research on sarcomas.

Today, I would like to thank them for saving my life and for always being there for me, no matter what.

I would like to invite you to support their cause, which is also mine, by making a donation.

Together, right now, we can improve patient care and advance knowledge about this rare type of cancer.

I want to emphasize that I am launching this fundraiser in July because July is Sarcoma Month - an opportunity to talk about this little-known cancer!

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Support Better Treatments for Sarcomas

So far, we know that sarcomas are more common in children than in adults (10% of pediatric cancers versus 1% of adult cancers) and that there are more than 100 types of sarcomas that affect either bone or connective tissue (muscle, fat, blood vessels, tendons and fibrous tissue).

However, there are still many unanswered questions.

By making a donation, you are helping us to pursue research on sarcomas, since there is so much we still don’t know about this disease.

Ultimately, you will prevent others from being in my situation and that would be the greatest gift you could give me.

Specifically, the funds raised will be used to purchase research equipment for Dr. Przybyl, who is developing innovative methods to detect sarcomas through non-invasive diagnostic tests using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) profiling.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting sarcoma research and giving hope for a cure to people suffering from sarcoma, like me.

- Ariane Boyer and the McGill Sarcoma Team, with the support of the Montreal General Hospital Foundation