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About Athina's Ride

Join Athina's Ride 2026: Cycling Towards a Cure

Pedal with purpose at Athina's Ride, a powerful fundraising initiative supporting the Desmoid Tumour Foundation of Canada. Whether you're an experienced cyclist or just starting out, there's a way for everyone to contribute to this meaningful cause.

How to Participate

Choose Your Adventure:

Getting Started is Easy

Your Impact

Every kilometer cycled and dollar raised supports the Desmoid Tumour Foundation of Canada's vital work:

Together, we're not just riding bikes - we're pedaling towards a future free from desmoid tumours. Join us in making a difference.

Register Today!

What is a Desmoid Tumour or Aggressive Fibromatosis?

Desmoid tumours, also called aggressive fibromatosis or desmoid-type fibromatosis, are rare and often debilitating and disfiguring soft-tissue tumours. They are characterized by a growth pattern that can invade surrounding healthy tissues, including joints, muscle and viscera. While they can arise in any part of the body, the most common sites are the upper extremities (arm, forearm, and hand), lower extremities (hip, thigh, leg, and foot), abdominal wall, thoracic areas, and the head and neck.

The severity of a desmoid tumour can vary based on the location of the tumour and the aggressiveness of its growth pattern. Desmoid tumours can cause significant morbidities, including severe pain, internal bleeding, incapacitating loss of range of motion, and, in rare cases, death.

While desmoid tumours can occur in people between 15 and 60 years of age, they are most commonly diagnosed in young adults between 30-40 years of age. Women are also 2 to 3 times more likely to develop them than men.

Source: SpringWorks https://www.springworkstx.com/patients-families/desmoid-tumor/

About Desmoid Tumour Foundation Canada (DFC)

The Desmoid Tumour Foundation of Canada (DFC) is the official Canadian charity for desmoid research.

Since our first fundraiser in May 2017, the DFC has donated $295,000 towards Desmoid research. We are dedicated to funding research to help find better treatments and ultimately a cure for this devastating disease.

Unlike more well known diseases, rare conditions like Desmoids do not receive the same amount of funding for research. Funding cutting-edge research is the only way to develop new and effective therapies. Thanks to the research underway through the US foundation DTRF and the money we have raised in Canada, we are now seeing an exciting number of new drugs and modalities to treat this condition. But there is a lot more work to be done.

Research funds distributed by the Desmoid Tumour Foundation of Canada (2017-2021):

2017: $70,000 CDN donated

Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada

Drs. Mushriq Al-Jazrawe and Ben Alman will conducted a singlecell-derived clonal analysis of desmoid tumours to investigate tumour-stoma interactions

$30,000 to Duke University, North Carolina, USA

- The creation of transgenic mice to be available to scientists globally.

2018: $85,000 CDN donated to Ohio State University, US

- Dr. Raphael E. Pollock “The role of the tumor microenvironment in S45F desmoid tumor chemotherapeutic resistance”.

2019: $100,000 CDN donated

$50,000 to Gerlinde Wernig “To evaluate whether gamma-secretase inhibitor PF-03084014 blocks JUN-mediated DTF”

$50,000 to Ghent University, Belgium

- Kris Vleminckx, MD “Identifying and Characterizing dependency factors in a genetic Xemopus tropicalis desmoid tumor model”.

2021: $40,000 CDN donated to Stanford University, California, USA

- Gerlinde Wernig “Studying CD47 blockade as an immunotherapy for desmoid-type fibromatosis”; part 1 of 2-year study

- The Global Scientific Advisory Board will meet to review new research being submitted. The studies they recommend for funding will then be reviewed by our medical advisory board and they will select which research we should support with the funds raised in 2021.

Athina's Ride generated funds distributed by the Desmoid Tumour Foundation of Canada:

Our inaugural Athina's Ride in 2021 raised $132,700 to help support research into desmoid tumour therapies!

That’s an unprecedented amount for a first-time charitable event, and 100% of the proceeds go to the Desmoid Tumour Foundation of Canada (DFC).

From 2021-2024, we raised another $200,000, which makes it over $330,000, with all funds allocated going towards research.

2021:

$40,000 was awarded to year 1 of Wernig Gerlinde Study Stanford School of Medicine, Department of Pathology

- “Studying CD47 blockade as an immunotherapy for desmoid-type fibromatosis”

$119,000 was awarded to year 2 of the same study

2022: $117,400 allocated, $159,000 committed

The following 3 grants were funded jointly between DFC and DTRF

$19,200 was awarded to Canadian Sarcoma Clinical and Research Collaboration (CANSARCC)

- Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Desmoid-type Fibromatosis – A Canadian Multicenter Retrospective CanSaRCC Study with principal investigator Jonathan Noujaim, MD

- Total Budget/Length: $30,000 over 1 year jointly with the DTRF (US organization)

$41,600 CDN/year for 2 years = $83,200 in total was awarded to Joanna Przybyl, PhD an Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, McGill University

- Targeting hexosamine biosynthesis pathway for the treatment of desmoid tumors

- Total Budget/Length: $130,000 over 2 years jointly with the DTRF (US organization)

$41,600 CDN was awarded to Kris Vleminckx PhD, Ghent University

- Investigating EXH2 as a druggable mediator of immune cell exclusion in desmoid tumours

- Total Budget/Length: $65,000 year 2 of 2 jointly with the DTRF (US organization)

$15,000 CDN was awarded to Rebecca Gladdy, Luninfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute/Sinai Health

- Clinical Outcomes and Genetic Analysis of Sarcoma

- Sub-study: Desmoid tumor and pregnancy: effect of pregnancy on disease control and effect of diagnosis on pregnancy history. An international multicenter retrospective observational study: Investigating EXH2 as a druggable mediator of immune cell exclusion in desmoid tumours