Beat The Odds Sarcoma Fund

03/23/2026

You're handed a diagnosis most people have never heard of. Your doctor has maybe seen one case before. Google gives you terrifying survival stats and no clear next step.

So you start making calls. You learn that sarcoma pathology is easy to misread, that getting your slides reviewed by someone who actually specializes in this can change the entire diagnosis. You find out that places like MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Mayo have sarcoma-specific intake lines you can call directly, without waiting for a referral.

And then you hit the wall. That specialist is three states away. The flight costs more than your rent. Insurance won't touch a dollar of it.

That's where we come in.

beattheoddsfund.org

03/23/2026

Beat The Odds Sarcoma Fund is officially accepting donations and grant applications!

If you’re a sarcoma patient who needs help getting to a specialist center, or want to donate to the cause, learn more below.

https://beattheoddsfund.org

Specialist centers maximize sarcoma survival. We get patients there.

03/18/2026

14 states in the US have zero NCI-designated cancer centers. Zero.

Alaska. Arkansas. Delaware. Idaho. Louisiana. Mississippi. Montana. Nevada. North Dakota. Rhode Island. South Dakota. Vermont. West Virginia. Wyoming.

If you're diagnosed with sarcoma in rural Montana, the nearest specialist is nearly 700 miles away. In Mississippi, it's over 400 miles to MD Anderson in Houston.

The median number of oncologists per 100,000 people in rural counties? 0.0. Not low. Zero.

Rural cancer patients die at higher rates. 166.8 per 100,000 compared to 156.1 in urban areas. For a rare cancer like sarcoma, where expertise is everything, that gap is the difference between life and death.

No one should die because they were born in the wrong zip code. Share this if you agree.

Sources: NCI Cancer Center Directory, 2025 (cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/cancer-centers/find); Crowley et al., Journal of Cancer Policy, 2026; Driving distances via Google Maps

03/16/2026

This is the reality for most sarcoma patients.

On the left: your local hospital. One general surgeon. Maybe an oncologist who's seen sarcoma once or twice.

On the right: a sarcoma center. Orthopedic oncologists, sarcoma-specific pathologists, radiation oncologists, and surgical teams who see this every single day.

The difference? A 32% lower risk of death.

Only 17 hospitals in the entire US meet the high-volume threshold for sarcoma. For thousands of patients diagnosed each year, getting to one means traveling hundreds of miles — and covering costs insurance won't touch.

That's why we exist. Beat the Odds Sarcoma Fund covers flights, hotels, and ground transport so the distance to a specialist never decides a patient's outcome.

Know someone who needs this? Share this post. It might be the most important thing they see today.

Source: Blay et al., Annals of Oncology, 2019 (35,784 patients) | Chidiac et al., Cancer, 2026