DURHAM, N.C. — The Duke Cancer Institute 2025 CRUSH Colorectal Cancer 5K is Saturday.

The event has raised $511,090 since 2013. All money donated to the cause provides direct funding for Duke’s gastrointestinal oncology, which includes new research tests used in treating colorectal cancers.

One of the doctors who benefits from the event is Dr. Nicholas DeVito, a medical oncologist at the Duke Cancer Center.

“This work directly funds some of the work that is either too high risk or not yet ready for funding from bigger agencies like the National Institutes of Health,” DeVito said. 

DeVito has been on the frontlines of testing new treatments for patients whose bodies may respond better to non-traditional treatments. One of his former patients, Chris Biggar, was diagnosed with microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer. DeVito told Spectrum News 1 last year that Biggar responded better to immunotherapy than he would chemotherapy.

“What I really like to do with patients in this case is educate,” DeVito said in 2024. “The benefit to having microsatellite cancers like the one Chris has is they can’t repair their own DNA.”

The significance of an otherwise typical 5K event is how it can provide funding to research innovative therapies outside of federal government funding.

“He (Biggar) is really what exemplifies what should be the standard of care in microsatellite in-stable colorectal cancers, which is that these patients should be receiving immunotherapy before receiving any other treatments,” DeVito said.

Biggar has become an advocate for early detection. The Durham mayor recently proclaimed March Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in honor of Biggar’s fight to spread awareness about the disease. 

According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States, with nearly 53,000 deaths expected from this cancer in 2025.

The 5K starts at The River Church in Durham at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Same-day registration begins at 7 a.m.