When Yaron Panov was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of cancer, he was given six months to live.

In searching for treatment options for his soft tissue sarcoma, Panov and his wife, Dr. Rochelle Schwartz, discovered Champions Oncology, an innovative, precision chemotherapy program based in Baltimore and Israel.

Champions implanted Panov’s tumour cells and surrounding tissue into mice avatars, and then different chemotherapy drugs were tested on them. The course of treatment most effective on these mouse tumours was then used for Panov.

Fast forward 5-1/2 years, and Panov was telling his story at a recent fundraiser that kicked off the campaign for the Panov 2 sarcoma research initiative at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

“Against all odds, I saw my sons graduate,” Panov told the 85 people who gathered at the home of Barry and Varda Feiner that evening. “Maybe I’ll see