Join the Fight / Fund MCC research

Fund MCC research

Donate to Merkel cell carcinoma research led by the Seattle team, with collaborators around the world.

Follow this link to make a tax-deductible online contribution to MCC research:

Make a Donation

Thank you for your interest in supporting Merkel cell carcinoma research.

If you would like to send a check, please make it payable to “Fred Hutch Cancer Center” and write “Dr. Nghiem’s research/UW” in the memo line.

You may send it to:

Attn: Gift Services

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

1100 Fairview Ave N., Mail Stop J5-200

Seattle, WA 98109

If you would like to send a personal note to accompany your gift, please email it to [email protected].

All gifts will be used to advance three main goals related to Merkel cell carcinoma:

  • Educating new Merkel cell carcinoma patients and their physicians about this serious and uncommon disease. Our Merkel cell carcinoma website serves as a resource for patients around the world, free of charge, to help guide management of this disease about which many physicians are not familiar.
  • Monitoring disease status. We have developed a new test that can be carried out on a tiny amount of blood from Merkel cell carcinoma patients. This can tell, often before it is visible on a body scan, if this cancer is returning or not. It also can provide greatly appreciated reassurance for patients when it is negative, indicating their cancer is not staging a comeback.
  • Understanding and reversing immune evasion. We have found that a patient’s “killer T cells” are important in fighting Merkel cell carcinoma and that when they are present in the tumor, patients do very well. We also have discovered ways that this cancer sometimes evades such T cells. We believe that strategic use of existing and emerging immune therapies will allow us to activate T cells to overcome the cancer’s immune evasion strategies. We believe that these insights and tools will significantly improve the prospects of current and future patients with Merkel cell carcinoma.

Your donation to our Merkel cell carcinoma research effort would be tax deductible, and 100% of your donation would go directly to our research and educational efforts. The family will also receive an acknowledgement letter when a donation is made “in honor” or “in memory” of an MCC patient.

Planned Giving

What will your legacy be? Planned gifts provide creative and flexible strategies for your estate and charitable planning. Some planned gifts provide you with income. Many of them can reduce your taxes. The greatest benefit, however, lies in knowing you are supporting Merkel cell carcinoma research that will help others. If you have questions, please contact Christine Chan at [email protected] or 206.667.5371.