The Paula Takacs Foundation for Sarcoma Research

06/09/2026

Because of your generosity and support, 2025 was a year of meaningful impact for the sarcoma community.

We're excited to share our 2025 Impact Report, highlighting the research, programs, partnerships, and stories made possible through your support.

📊 Read the full report: https://bit.ly/ptf2025impact

Thank you for being part of this mission and for helping us bring hope to patients and families facing sarcoma.

06/08/2026

✨ A Light of Hope for Sarcoma Awareness Month ✨

We've partnered with Hot Glass Alley to create handcrafted glass votives as a special Sarcoma Awareness Month fundraiser benefiting the Paula Takacs Foundation.

Each votive serves as a symbol of hope, remembrance, and resilience while helping advance sarcoma research and awareness. Every votive includes one personalized luminary that will be displayed during our Light the Night luminary ceremony on Thursday, July 16th.

Additional personalized luminaries are also available for purchase to honor, remember, or celebrate loved ones during this meaningful tribute.

Votives may be picked up at the event or shipped directly to your home. Sending one as a gift? We can ship it directly to your recipient and include a personalized message.

Join us in shining a light on sarcoma and bringing hope to patients and families affected by this disease.

🕯️ Purchase your votive or luminary: bit.ly/LTNshop

06/03/2026

📬 Our June Newsletter is Here!

Catch up on the latest news from the Paula Takacs Foundation, including a message from Chris Wade, details about Light the Night on July 16, ways to honor a loved one through our luminary tribute display, a research spotlight, community updates, and valuable new resources for sarcoma families.

See how your support continues to bring hope to those impacted by sarcoma. 💛

Read the June edition:

Dear Friends & Supporters, As summer begins, we're seeing meaningful progress across many areas of our mission. Research studies are moving forward, new partnerships are helping connect patients and families with valuable resources, and awareness efforts continue to grow.

06/01/2026

Every light tells a story. ✨

Join us for Light the Night for Sarcoma Awareness on July 16th. This complimentary community gathering brings people together to connect, share stories of hope and resilience, and shine a light on sarcoma through awareness, remembrance, and community.

At the heart of the evening is our luminary tribute display, illuminated by personalized luminaries dedicated in honor, memory, or celebration of someone impacted by sarcoma. Guests may also purchase handcrafted glass votives created by sarcoma survivor and artist Jake Pfeifer of Hot Glass Alley, offering a lasting symbol of hope and resilience. Each votive purchase includes a personalized luminary displayed during the event.

Whether through a luminary, a votive, or a donation, every tribute helps support the Paula Takacs Foundation's mission to fund sarcoma research, provide patient support, and raise awareness for this rare cancer.

Join us as we honor, remember, celebrate, and Light the Night.

📅 July 16, 2026 | 7:00–9:30 PM
📍 Norfolk Hall at Suffolk Punch | Charlotte, NC

🎟 Reserve tickets or purchase luminaries: onecau.se/ptflightthenight

05/28/2026

Promising new research is bringing hope to the Ewing sarcoma community. 💛

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed a new targeted therapy that showed strong results in preclinical studies for Ewing sarcoma and other cancers.

The therapy targets a protein called IL1RAP, found on cancer cells but largely absent from healthy tissue, allowing for more precise delivery of treatment while minimizing damage to normal cells.

In Ewing sarcoma models, the therapy eliminated established tumors, reduced metastasis, and demonstrated a strong safety profile in preclinical testing. The findings were published in Cancer Discovery and support moving toward clinical trials.

The study’s senior author, Dr. Poul Sorensen, is a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Ewing Sarcoma Institute, where he continues to support and advance Ewing sarcoma research.

While more work is needed before this therapy reaches patients, this represents an encouraging step forward in the search for more effective treatments.

📖 Read more: https://aacrjournals.org/cancerdiscovery/article/doi/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-25-1036/783445/IL1RAP-antibody-drug-conjugates-potently-target?fbclid=IwY2xjawR8G3FleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFjdVc0clBDSExJNmlIcTVoc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHr-AJM7ICv7ZaleOQAgArJKLj71zMsCLC03oY6Z1bqgpp0e4wNlNj8PGuNAg_aem_k9DsAdfNDfMcOMOuv9JqeQ

05/26/2026

We are incredibly grateful to be a 2026 grant recipient of the 24 Foundation 🧡

This support directly benefits our financial assistance program through Family Reach, helping ease the financial burden for families navigating a cancer diagnosis.

Get excited for 24 Foundation’s upcoming Charlotte fundraiser, 24 Hours of B***y, happening July 24–25!

Thank you for helping bring relief, stability, and hope to families when they need it most. 🎗️

05/21/2026

ATTENTION: Kids with Osteosarcoma or Ewing Sarcoma!!!

This Is BIG: The BCC023 Trial using DFMO for Ewing Sarcoma and Osteosarcoma is NOW ENROLLING!!!!

What This Is: DFMO (Eflornithine) for Ewing Sarcoma and Osteosarcoma

What This Means: Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma primarily affect adolescents and young adults. Common treatments include chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. There have been no real advancements to the standard of care in decades. By incorporating DFMO (eflornithine) as an additional therapy and/or maintenance therapy, our team of experts believe to observe improved event-free survival and overall survival.

Why This Matters: With little to no change to treatment protocol since the standards of care were developed, this trial provides an additional, less-toxic form of therapy for children battling these pediatric sarcomas. DFMO has been shown to successfully prevent relapse in neuroblastoma and laboratory research indicates the same results may be seen in sarcomas. This trial represents hope for countless children and families.

Anyone wishing to enroll immediately will have to travel to Penn State Health in Hershey until other sites begin to open. For enrollment information, please email: [email protected]

Research: Beat Childhood Cancer

05/19/2026

Save the Date | Light the Night ✨

This July, in recognition of Sarcoma Awareness Month, we invite you to join us for Light the Night—a gathering of hope, remembrance, and community in support of sarcoma research.

The evening will center around our signature luminary ceremony, where we gather under the night sky to honor, remember, and shine a light on all those touched by sarcoma.

📅 July 16th | 7:00–9:30 PM
📍 Norfolk Hall, Charlotte, NC

🎟 Tickets, luminaries, and additional event details will be announced in June—we can’t wait to share what’s in store.

05/14/2026

Research Highlight: Ewing Sarcoma at Levine Children's

The Paula Takacs Foundation is proud to help fund innovative research focused on Ewing sarcoma, one of the most aggressive bone cancers affecting children and young adults.

This study is investigating why certain tumor cells survive chemotherapy and later lead to relapse and metastasis. Using advanced single-cell analysis technology, researchers are working to identify the specific cancer cell populations that are resistant to treatment.

By better understanding the cells that drive disease spread, this research could help pave the way for more targeted therapies designed to improve outcomes and prevent relapse for children facing Ewing sarcoma.

Every research breakthrough brings us one step closer to better treatments and brighter futures for sarcoma patients and families.

Learn more about the studies we're funding: https://paulatakacsfoundation.org/trials-and-studies/

05/11/2026

A rare chondrosarcoma diagnosis left 58-year-old Alan and his wife Lynne navigating more than surgeries, second opinions, and side effects. They were also facing the overwhelming financial burden that often comes with cancer treatment.

After meeting with a specialist, Alan underwent two surgeries followed by six weeks of proton therapy in Charlotte, requiring the couple to temporarily relocate three hours from home. Between housing, transportation, and missed work, expenses quickly began to add up.

Lynne applied for several support programs but was denied by many based on income level, location, diagnosis, and even medication requirements.

Through our partnership with Family Reach, Alan and Lynne received a grant to help ease the financial strain during treatment.

“This is the only support we’ve received so far, and we are so thankful for the overwhelming financial help you gave us.” — Lynne

Our 2025 Financial Aid Fund has officially closed after helping many families facing the hidden costs of cancer treatment.

Learn more about our Financial Assistance Program: https://paulatakacsfoundation.org/our-programs/financial-assistance-program/