Brain Tumor Event Raises $61,000 for Awareness and Cutting Edge Research

Sept. 30, 2010 - PRLog -- This past Saturday over 800 cyclists, runners and walkers from around the United States converged at Coachmen Park in Clearwater to raise awareness and critically needed funding for brain tumors.  Within that group of over 800 was a team called “Anne’s Angels”, a group of 77 people who walked to show support for Anne Peluso Fordyce, an elementary school teacher in Tampa who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Anne has undergone surgery to remove the brain tumor and is currently undergoing radiation and chemotherapy to remove any residual tumor left behind after the surgery.  When Anne’s mom, Judi, heard about the Moving Towards A Cure® event, “We immediately wanted to participate”, she stated.  “Family and friends from all over the United States came together to run and walk and to support Miles for Hope in their efforts.  People came in from California, Illinois, Michigan and all over Florida wearing gray t-shirts signifying brain tumor awareness with yellow lettering, Anne’s favorite color, to honor Anne”.

Anne attended Chamberlain High School and graduated in 1998.  From there she attended the University of Florida where she received her Bachelor’s degree in 2002 and her Master’s degree in elementary education and technology.  “I am participating in this event to bring awareness to the public.  It is exciting for me to know that the money we raise will go to further research, advanced medication, vaccine, and ultimately finding a cure for this disease.  If this event touches even one person’s life, it’s worth it to me”, stated Anne.

In addition to Anne’s Angels, over 37 other teams participated in the event supporting brain tumor survivors and those that have lost their battle to this deadly disease.  Many of the other teams also have very similar stories and motivation for their participation in the event, including Bob Gibbs, a brain cancer survivor and the founder of Miles for Hope.  

Three years ago, Bob Gibbs, a local man who has defied the odds statistically, set out on a mission to raise awareness and funding for the same disease that attempted to take his life.  Gibbs married and the father of four, refused to let brain cancer beat him.  Instead, he and his wife, Barb, started Miles for Hope, a non-profit organization whose main mission is to raise national awareness and funding for cutting edge cancer vaccines and tumor tissue banking.  These are the same treatments that Gibbs credits with saving his life.

Bob was diagnosed in 2004 with brain cancer at the age of 34, but refused to give up without a fight.  If one brain tumor diagnosis was not enough, one year later their oldest son was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  He and his wife started to research all possible treatment options and came across an experimental brain cancer vaccine.  During his second surgery in 2008, his brain cancer became aggressive enough that it qualified him for a clinical trial at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). “The vaccine that I received has extended the median survival of Grade IV brain cancer (GBM) from 14.6 months with conventional treatment, to over 36 months”, stated Gibbs.  

“Over the past two decades, conventional treatments have only been able to extend the median survival of brain cancer by approximately two weeks.  For that reason, we felt compelled to raise awareness and funding for the brain cancer vaccines, so that others had access to the same treatment that has saved my life.  Most other organizations in the country typically focus on chemotherapy and radiation, which in our opinion, is not yielding the same effectiveness as we are seeing with the addition of the vaccine”.  

Brain tumors currently affect over 200,000 people each year, one person every 3 minutes in the United States, and they are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer deaths in children under the age of 20.  In addition, brain tumors are the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in males under the age of 29 and the 5th cause of cancer death in female adults 20-39.

Since the first event in 2008, Miles for Hope has been able to quickly expand their efforts from Clearwater to across the nation, thanks to the support of the Tampa Bay area.  Miles for Hope was the first organization to bring patients the ability to store their cancer tissue, just like umbilical cord blood.  Until this past May, this was only available for patients in other countries.  “As the focus of cancer treatment in the United States changes towards a more personalized approach with the advancement of cancer vaccines, it is becoming more critical that patients start saving their tumor tissue”, stated Gibbs.  “Patients also need to be aware that many facilities will tell patients that they will store their tumor tissue, but will not give patients access back to their tumor tissue.”, continued Gibbs.

For that reason, Miles for Hope provides patients access to a private storage facility, where they have access to their tumor tissue for future use and testing.  “We were pleased to be the first organization in the country to provide this ability, but it’s only a start”, stated Gibbs.  “In order to raise awareness of this capability and to provide access to cutting edge clinical trials and treatments, we continue to rely on our Moving Towards A Cure® events to provide a vehicle for the community to become involved and help us fund better treatments for this deadly disease.”, stated Barb Gibbs, Executive Director.

Other Moving Towards A Cure® events are scheduled for Tampa, Denver, Boston Los Angeles and Albany with more to come in 2011.  For additional information on this or other events, please contact Miles for Hope at (727) 781-HOPE (4673) or visit the website at http://www.MilesForHope.org

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About Miles for Hope: Miles for Hope is dedicated to raising awareness and funding of cutting edge brain tumor research as well as clinical trials and to providing travel assistance to qualified patients. Through our work, we intend on finding not only treatments that provide a better quality of life for those suffering with brain cancer, but to find a cure for it