Foundation for Autoimmune Cancer Support (FACS)

Dedicated to bridging the gap between medical experts, community oncologists, and patients utilizing immunotherapy to fight cancer, FACS is the overarching 501(3)c supporting the ASPirE research consortium, the patient community (Immune Commune), and the education center (ACES). WHY FACS?: The new cancer treatments developed in 2011, and only readily available in the past 10 years, are different from traditional chemotherapy. Everything we know about cancer and cancer treatments must be reassessed—including the medicines we use, how the treatments work, the type of medical providers necessary on the care team, and how we think about the impacts on patients. Immunotherapy cancer treatments work by harnessing and activating the patient’s immune system to kill the cancer. An activated immune system—irrelevant of the cause (vaccine, drug, infection)—attacks the cancer as well as unrelated body systems. Prior to using these treatments intentionally to fight cancer, these syndromes were caused by de novo autoimmune disease (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, etc). Patients with cancer who utilize immunotherapy live longer and keep their cancer controlled, but now must navigate an autoimmune disease. Those are the patients we are trying to help. More information is needed to serve the patient community in making informed decisions and creating better evidence-based guidelines that can be used by any health care team. A patients’ immune-system changes often last well beyond the “curing” of the cancer, requiring the use of both traditional and innovative autoimmune disease treatments. The merging of the world of cancer and autoimmune disease will require new treatment team structures, expert coordination, and ongoing education of community oncologists who will no longer view cancer through a 5-year lens. That is our goal. Join us at www.autoimmunecancer.org