TALLAHASSEE, FL - On November 28 2024, First Lady Casey DeSantis participated in a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot to bring awareness to pediatric cancer in Florida and to honor Griffin Anderson, a two-year-old child from the Jacksonville area currently fighting Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

On April 29, Griffin Anderson was hospitalized after falling from a bunk bed, raising concerns about a possible clavicle fracture. However, X-rays of his arm revealed an unexpected finding: a mass along his humerus. This mass was later diagnosed as Ewing's sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that affects only 200 to 250 individuals in the U.S. each year, primarily seen in teenagers and young adults. After undergoing multiple rounds of chemotherapy and blood transfusions, doctors determined that the only way to save his life was to amputate his arm. Despite these challenges, Griffin has adapted remarkably well to his new circumstances. His strength and spirit throughout this fight are truly inspiring.

Please visit this link if you want to learn more about Griffin's story and support his battle against this rare disease.

“The battle against cancer is ongoing, and we will not stop until it’s defeated,” said First Lady Casey DeSantis. “We are proud to continue promoting advanced health care research and supporting Floridians like Griffin as they continue their fight to defeat this awful disease.”

In August of 2022, Florida launched Florida Cancer Connect, a website that provides the latest cancer research, information, and survivor stories. This webpage offers current tools that help Floridians:

- Understand cancer research and prevention programs;
- Locate a health care provider specializing in cancer care;
- Navigate the complexities of cancer-related insurance coverage;
- Obtain caregiver resources; and,
- Hear from the brave Floridians who have fought this disease.

Under Governor DeSantis's leadership, Florida also established the Cancer Connect Collaborative, an expansion of Florida Cancer Connect that assembles a team of medical professionals to analyze and rethink Florida's approach to combatting cancer. The Cancer Connect Collaborative has five main objectives:

- Data: Data about the proliferation and treatment of cancer should be both timely available and easily accessible. The Collaborative will seek to identify the reasons data is slow to move or hard to access and dismantle those barriers.
- Best Practices: When treating cancer, best practices shouldn't be proprietary. The Collaborative will streamline, encourage, and incentivize the sharing of treatment best practices among public and private entities so that everyone is treated with the most effective treatment possible.
- Honesty: We know a lot about cancer—what causes it and, in many cases, what preventative steps can minimize the risk of a diagnosis. It's time to open the tap on cancer information, and the Collaborative will be tasked with identifying ways to ensure this is done.
- Innovation: Cut the red tape and fully unleash the power of innovation in the battle against cancer. Technology improves at an exponential rate, yet application lags. The Collaborative will identify the reasons that technology gets held up—whether it be special interests, over-litigiousness, or bureaucratic red tape—and recommend ways to eliminate these barriers.
- Funding: The Collaborative emphasized how the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund will bolster state-of-the-art research to detect and fight cancer.

This year, Florida allocated over $232 million for cancer research, with $60 million for the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund—a 200% increase—and $127.5 million for the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program.

Visit the Florida Cancer Connect webpage at flcancerconnect.com.