You can help Gary Sinise and friends fuel a breakthrough for chordoma

Gary Sinise and his family and friends have helped advance a new kind of treatment for the cancer that took the life of Gary’s son, Mac.

11/20/2025

Taking action

Photo: Mac and Gary Sinise

Ask Gary Sinise about his son Mac, and he'll tell you about a young man who faced an incredibly tough diagnosis with grace and courage — and about how people inspired by Mac's legacy are pushing forward research that could change outcomes for patients facing chordoma today.

Mac fought metastatic chordoma for more than five years. Though his disease ultimately moved faster than the science, the research he helped make possible has already led to significant progress. Thanks to early funding from the Sinise family and others, researchers led by Dr. Cassian Yee at MD Anderson Cancer Center recently made a major discovery: a new way to leverage the immune system to destroy tumor cells that express brachyury: a protein found in virtually every chordoma tumor, as well as in breast, lung, colon, prostate, and other common cancers. And brachyury is barely found in normal tissue, making it an especially promising target for therapies that attack tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.

Their finding has opened the door to a wave of new immunotherapy approaches targeting brachyury. The first of these therapies is now positioned to enter a clinical trial for chordoma patients at MD Anderson next year and, if successful, could potentially be expanded to other cancer types where brachyury plays a role.

Getting these therapies to patients will require at least $3 million in philanthropic funding. Earlier this month, an extraordinary event near Nashville took a major step toward that goal. The evening brought together more than 300 people, including many from within the chordoma community. Gary's band performed an incredible set, Gary spoke about Mac's legacy and why this research matters so much to his family, and sponsors and guests raised a significant sum toward brachyury immunotherapy research.

And, in an amazing surprise, a generous donor pledged a million-dollar match — doubling the impact of every gift made that night and making it possible for us to match every gift between now and the end of the year to help accelerate new therapies for chordoma patients!