Li Lily Wang, PhD

Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Research Gains Ground With VeloSano Funding

Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer (ATC) is a rare but devastating disease and one of the most aggressive cancers known to medicine. It strikes fast, spreads rapidly and is almost always diagnosed too late for conventional treatments to be effective. Historically, patients faced grim outcomes and few options.

The thyroid, a small, butterfly-shaped gland at the front of the neck, is essential to many processes. It regulates metabolism, heart rate and countless other vital functions through the hormones it produces. When ATC takes hold, it doesn’t just disrupt these processes. It overwhelms them. Its progression is so relentless that the American Joint Committee on Cancer classifies every case as stage IV, regardless of tumor size or spread.

However, there is hope. Thanks to a VeloSano grant, researchers Li Lily Wang, PhD, Jeffrey Knauf, PhD, and Ying Ni, PhD, are leading an effort to change the trajectory of this disease. Their work is urgently needed because, for patients with ATC, time is of the essence. Their project is exploring a novel therapy that targets VISTA, an immune checkpoint protein known to suppress the body’s natural anti-tumor response. By unlocking this pathway, the team aims to empower the immune system to fight the cancer.

“Our group has the expertise in this area,” says Dr. Wang. “Using preclinical models, we determined this molecule is a relevant immunotherapy target for this disease. Now, by combining it with existing therapies, we hope to really make a dent in patient survival.”

Securing funding for rare cancer research is often an uphill battle, especially in the early stages, when scientists are still working to prove that a new idea is worth pursuing. Without solid preliminary data, it’s nearly impossible to compete for larger grants. That’s why early support is so critical: it lays the foundation for everything that follows.

“It’s critical to have preliminary data to show this is a reasonable target and how well it works in order to recruit other people,” says Dr. Knauf. “Everybody who treats these patients knows it’s very challenging, and it’s hard to get funding for a rare cancer.”

This is exactly why VeloSano exists: to provide the early-stage funding that makes high-risk, high-reward research possible. For patients facing the most aggressive and least understood diagnoses, this kind of support isn’t just helpful, it’s transformative. With this momentum, the team aims to generate the compelling data needed to pursue larger national grants and ultimately bring new hope to patients who need it most.

“That’s why all of us were so excited to get the funding through VeloSano,” says Dr. Ni. “We will be able to really shift some focus on this and then bring the data to our next external funding opportunity. It’s a really exciting opportunity for us to move this project forward as we have been trying for years.”