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The Vincere Foundation was established in order to advance cutting edge technology in firefighter and first responder cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment. At its inception, Vincere observed the increasing prevalence of late stage cancer diagnosis in young, healthy appearing firefighters. This acceleration in firefighter cancers was also observed following 9/11, however, there was no comprehensive cancer screening program for firefighters and first responders treating them as a high risk group. The Vincere Foundation is dedicated to saving the lives of our lifesavers.
The Vincere Foundation was privately funded to investigate the safety, viability, and efficacy of the most progressive and comprehensive firefighter and first responder cancer screening program in the country. Six hundred firefighters were screened with Vincere’s program. Twenty-one Stage 0-2 cancers were diagnosed in this program with an extremely high cure rate, compared to the same cancers diagnosed later at Stage 3-4 when not undergoing the cancer screening program. This led to much quicker diagnosis, high cure rates, high satisfaction for firefighters and first responders, and much lower costs for the cities who were self insured.
The City of Phoenix, led the country in implementing this program once Vincere Foundation proved its success.
Current and ongoing studies:
1. Reflection: A Clinical Practice Learning Program for Galleri: prospective cohort study evaluating the performance of the
Galleri MCED test in clinical settings and the impact on patients (Sponsor: GRAIL), enrolled over 2000 participants
2. Caris Biorepository Research Protocol: biomarkers in the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer and breast cancer
(Sponsor: CARIS) enrolled over 500 patients
3. SOAR: Detecting Cancers Earlier Through Elective Blood-Based Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCECD) Testing – Study
of All Comers: prospective randomized control trial study evaluating the efficacy and safety of MCED testing (Sponsor:
EXACT SCIENCES)
4. FFCCS: Firefighters Cancer Cohort Study: a multi-site national study investigating the impact of firefighter exposure on
cancer (Funding: FEMA)
5. Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Screening and Cancer Surveillance: studying the use of liquid biopsy cfDNA, correlated with
radiological findings on low-dose lung CT and whole-body MRI, to differentiate cancers and monitor progression of benign
lung nodules (Collaboration with University of Arizona)
6. Surveillance of Abnormal Lung Nodules: investigating the feasibility of a cloud-based software which tracks and predicts
changes in abnormal lung nodules over time and in response to treatment (Collaboration with University of California)