Unique ‘Buy My Cancer’ NFT collection helps fund critical immunotherapy

Buy My Cancer is a multi-edition NFT art collection made possible through the collaboration of the Alivia Oncology Foundation, the Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Polish artist Paweł Swanski, and creative agency Ogilvy.

Combining contemporary art, science, medicine, and NFT technology, Buy My Cancer is the first NFT series designed to directly fund cutting-edge cancer treatment, CAR-T – a developing branch of immunotherapy that can directly impact cancers resistant to other methods of treatment.

Clinical trials indicate that CAR-T cells therapy can cure about 40% of patients for whom there are no other effective treatments. But it comes at a price. While extremely effective, the treatment is said to cost approx $400,000 per patient which is not always covered by some medical insurance policies.

Naturally, we love the innovative use of NFTs to help fund this treatment. But we also love the synergy between the cancer treatment and the art itself. 

CAR-T uses the patient’s own immune cells (lymphocytes). These are then genetically re-coded and administered back to the patient to manipulate and fight cancer. And the art is very similar.

The basis of the art uses photographs of living cancer cells captured with a confocal microscope. For the first edition, the images were given to artist SWANSKI who transformed the images with his characteristic ivy-like style to not only bring the photos to life but represent the suffocation of the living cancer cells.

The Buy My Cancer campaign doesn’t end there. SWANSKI’s first edition of 49 pieces is just the beginning.

The #buymycancerchallenge will then see the artist and Oncology Professors Sebastian Giebel and Jacek Jassem nominate other artists and professors to create the next edition of “Buy My Cancer”.

“It’s definitely an emotional and creative challenge… most importantly it’s a chance to help finance a very expensive but very modern therapy and ultimately save lives. Cancer is an enemy that is difficult to defeat but we must try”
SWANSKI

We’re looking forward to seeing how this incredible initiative continues to develop… and save lives.

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