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In Cancer Research A Little Money Goes A Long Way

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2007

Updated: 09/20/2007 09:55 pm

Test tubes and microscopes don't normally excite me unless, of course, the tubes are filled with liquid gold or the scopes are focused on diamonds.

However, I have to admit the equipment in staff scientist Sean Yoder's lab held special appeal for me despite its lack of glitter.

A group of friends and I were taking a tour of the Don & Erika Wallace Comprehensive Breast Cancer Program at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, hearing about how the money we raised from last year's Project Cure was being used.

Project Cure is our pie-in-the-sky dream of wiping out breast cancer. However, we discovered our dream might not be out of reach.

Last year we decided to raise money for breast cancer research after the disease claimed three young mothers at our children's school, St. Stephen Catholic School in Riverview. Two of the mothers had children in my son's class, and the third was the wife of the music and art teacher.

Determined to take action, we hosted a three-day, 60-mile walk along Natures Way in Bloomingdale East in October and organized a children's walk and festival at St. Stephen Catholic School.

And, in cooperation with the Lightning Foundation, we sold pink baseball caps decorated with the breast cancer signature ribbon and breast cancer ribbon jewelry. We also solicited donations and sponsors and stood on street corners collecting change in jars during the three-day walk.

Frankly, we were a bit stunned to discover we had raised $26,000 during the first-time effort. There were six of us in the core group, and none of us had tackled a major fundraiser before. We just knew that we had lost too many friends to this disease and needed to take action to ease our sense of helplessness and grief, to give meaning to our friends' deaths and to show their children they did not die in vain.

Heck, I was just happy I completed all 60 miles.

It wasn't until July that we discovered the real effects of our efforts. That's when Moffitt arranged a tour for us, including lunch with Bradford Carter, a cancer surgeon, professor of oncology surgery and leader of the Don & Erika Wallace Comprehensive Breast Cancer Program.

He's also my hero. I saw him speak at a breast cancer fundraiser hosted by the Lightning Foundation and the Greater Brandon Community Foundation at Bell Shoals Baptist Church in 2005, and I was impressed by the research he spoke of that was taking place at Moffitt. I hadn't realized such groundbreaking studies were occurring in our own back yard.

In fact, Moffitt is ranked third in research and treatment in the country by the National Cancer Institute and has 13 clinical programs studying different types of cancer including the Don & Erika Wallace program.

When we discovered we could raise money that would go to research, not administrative costs or overhead, we agreed that Moffitt should be our benefactor.

We knew our money was in good hands when we turned it over to Shirley Fessell. She not only works for the foundation but also happens to be a parishioner at St. Stephen Catholic Church. We didn't meet her until after we chose the foundation as our charity.

The researchers at the foundation, though, will tell you that Fessell didn't mince words when she handed them our hard-earned proceeds.

'This is the Lord's money,' she told them solemnly. 'It has to be used for something special.'

It just so happened, Moffitt researchers had something special in need of funding.

Pam Munster, a member of Moffitt's Division of Experimental Therapeutics and Breast Oncology, was short $10,000 to complete an important Phase I clinical trial. Munster is looking at women's DNA histories and how they can be used to optimize the benefits of chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Right now, doctors blast cancer patients with chemo, hoping the medication will find the cancer cells. However, only 15 out of 100 patients actually benefit from the treatment.

Munster is trying to figure out how to unravel each patient's DNA so doctors can target the cancer cells and leave the healthy cells alone.

The study goes along with Moffitt's new partnership with Merck & Co., which is supplying the technology for Moffitt to collect the DNA samples of 50,000 patients and identify the genetic markers, allowing doctors to personalize cancer therapy. That's what Yoder was doing the day of our tour. He was examining all these miniscule microarrays through the microscope, studying their genome structure.

So, according to Carter, a group of women with little more than luck and good intentions managed to help complete an important Phase I clinical trial and help begin the second phase. I would say that's better than liquid gold or diamonds.

'Your contribution made a huge impact,' said Carter, and I don't think he was just humoring us, because he added that competition for research dollars is fierce among the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society and other groups. To be handed 26,000 unfettered dollars is a coup.

I got the distinct impression that he wanted us to go back and raise more money.

So that's what we're doing. This year we hope to raise $50,000.

We have invited all churches in the community to form teams and join us for the second annual Project Cure walk Oct. 19-21. Our goal is 60 miles, but participants are invited to walk any distance they feel comfortable walking - four miles, eight miles, 20 miles - and raise any amount of money they can. Registration forms are available at www.projectcure.ststephen catholic.org. Residents also may make donations or purchase a Lightning Foundation hat for $25 through the Web site or contact Lisa Huetteman at (813) 685-6185.

To get a head start on fundraising, there will be a Project Cure yard sale today from 8:30 a.m. to noon at St. Stephen Catholic Church, 5049 Bell Shoals Road, Valrico.

In addition, Skateland of Brandon is hosting a Project Cure Skate-A-Thon from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday. The $5 tickets include skate rental. Call Jean Weber at (813) 655-9787 for tickets.

Reporter/columnist D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite @tampatrib.com.

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