Take a Break....Let’s Beat Cancer!

Cancer doesn’t care if you are Republican, Democrat or Independent.

Join Cherry Creek Republican Women in a Nonpartisan Attack on Breast Cancer

The event benefits the AMC Cancer Fund and the University of Colorado Cancer Center

When: October 21, 2010, 11:30 a.m.

Where: Glenmoor Country Club
110 Glenmoor Drive
Cherry Hills Village, CO

Cost: $25.00 per person, lunch will be served

Guest Speaker: Dr. Virginia Borges, M.D.
University of Colorado Cancer Center

For our Mothers, Daughters, and Friends


For further information and reservations, contact Joy Hoffman at joy@greenco.biz
or 303-761-7400.

Asarch Center dermaSpa donates 5% to AMC in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Look and feel great as during the month of October, the Asarch Center dermaSpa is contributing 5% of proceeds from various spa procedures to AMC Cancer Fund to support the Young Women's Breast Cancer Translational program taking place at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. This donation will go directly to the researchers and clinicians in our own community that are making great strides in understanding this form of cancer.

For more information contact:

dermaSpa
303.761.6325
www.dermaSpa.us
or
Asarch Center
303.761.7797
www.asarchcenter.com

Dr. Thorburn beats down fear, mans up in kilt

Dr. Andrew Thorburn, Deputy Director of UCCC, decided to rappel down a 28 story downtown building to raise money and awareness for cancer research. He was one of 40 people who stepped off the high-rise ledge Friday, August 27, participating in the Cancer League of Colorado's fundraising event. And, he did it in a kilt!

"I happened to say I'd do it in a kilt if we raised $2,000, and there was a considerable surge of excitement," Thorburn said. "All you have to say is you will rappel 28 stories in a kilt, and people get their wallets out."

The rappelling event is expected to raise almost $125,000. The CU Cancer Center will use the money raised to fund start-up cancer-research projects.

Dinner in White benefit takes cue from flash mobs

by: Joanne Davidson
The Denver Post
Posted: 08/18/2010

Dinner in White co-chairwomen Shana Mader, left, and Krista Gilbertson. (Special to The Denver Post)"Do you know where you're going to?" — Diana Ross, in the theme song to "Mahogany."

The 150 people who'd purchased tickets for the inaugural Dinner in White didn't have a clue where they were going until a mere hour before this benefit for AMC Cancer Fund was to begin.

And it wasn't because someone dropped the ball.

The dinner was geared to a younger crowd and inspired by flash mobs that attract huge crowds on a moment's notice. Part of the fun was in not knowing where it would be held until the text messages, e-mails and Tweets started flying.

Guests had been advised to be standing by, dressed in white and packing their own picnic dinners. When word came, off they went to the patio at the Chase Bank building at 18th and Lawrence in the heart of downtown Denver.

They were greeted by music from the Boulder-based band Meniskus and a party space illuminated with twinkling white lights.

"EO," the band's violinist and lead singer, moved through the crowd as guests had their caricatures drawn by artist Brooke Howell, shopped at a Parisian-themed market and bid on silent auction items.

Shana Mader and Krista Gilbertson spent a year developing Dinner in White and are confident it will be considered a "must-attend" benefit for next year.

Mader also shared her story as a cancer survivor, reminding guests of the importance of early detection and healthy living in the battle against this deadly disease. And, in a gesture of honor and remembrance to those who have survived and those who have been lost to cancer, she invited everyone to release white balloons into the evening sky.

Among the guests: Gary and Kathy Kortz, Mark and Melissa Osborn, Todd and Lina Olinger, Anamaria Osborne, and David and Dr. Laurie Gaspar. AMC Cancer Fund supports programs of the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

Oh! What a Night...

The weather gods were with us on Saturday, August 7th for the first Dinner in White. After a week that brought heavy evening rains, lightning and thunder,we could not have asked for a more picture perfect evening.

The party began at 7 PM at the surprise location, the Chase Bank patio, located on the corner of 18th and Arapahoe and white was the color of the night. White lights, white tents, white tables and beautiful people decked out in white.

The guests arrived in style in classic white attire, bringing their own picnic dinner fare, while the wine, French martinis, beer, appetizers and dessert was provided by AMC. Meniskus, a local band, played great music making the night fun and magical.

Guests enjoyed the beautiful view and sunset while visiting with one another, checking out the silent auction items and Wall of Wine, as well as visiting the French market place with facsinating artists and vendors.

We did the Diner en Blanc proud!

Thank You To Our Sponsors!
ACE Cash Express - www.acecashexpress.com
Novus Biologicals, LLC - www.novusbio.com
McDonald Audi - www.audiusa.com
FirstBank - www.efirstbank.com

Dinner in White

It's been a year in the planning and the BIG DAY is almost upon us! Stay posted for the unveiling of the mystery location and festivities.

Mysterious dinner event comes to Denver

Modeled after the famous flash mob event held annually in Paris, the Dinner in White experience is coming to Denver as a fundraiser to benefit AMC Cancer Fund. This mysterious event takes place Saturday, August 7, 2010 at a location not to be revealed to participants until one hour prior to the event.

At the appointed time, participants will learn of the location and descend upon the site dressed in white to find a Parisian marketplace and entertainment by the local band Meniskus. Participants are encouraged to bring their own picnic dinnner (or pick one up from the Deluxe Food Truck). Wine, beer and dessert will be provided.

Tickets are $50 each. They can be purchased online at www.dinnerinwhite.com or by calling 303-239-3339.

Naren A. Vora Annual Golf Tournament

Saturday, June 6th dawned as a perfect day for the annual Naren A. Vora Memorial Golf Tourament. Held at the beautiful Raccoon Creek Golf Course, 88 golfers join the Vora brothers to raise of over $30,000 for the University of Colorado Cancer Center, supporting head and neck cancer research.
Planning for the June 2011 golf tournament are already in the works, so keep watching for more details!

Colorado Research Breakfast

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ASC CAN), the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, held it's annual Colorado Research Breakfast on Tuesday, August 4th at the Denver Atheletic Club.

The welcome and introduction of the emcee, Theresa Marchetta, from KMGH TV, Channel 7, were made by Brian Eberle, ACS CAN State Lead Volunteer Ambassador to a ballroom packed with phyisicans, researchers, fundraisers, and volunteers.

Speakers included Tim Byers, MD, MPH and Paul Bunn, MD from UCCC, and the keynote speaker UCCC new director, Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD.

ASC CAN is a movement that unites and empowers cancer patients, survivors, caregivers and their families by giving them the training and tools needed to make their voices head in the halls of government and strives to make a difference by building a nationwide movement of cancer advocates.

2009-2010 FY Highlights

Our mission is to put ourselves out of business,
not necessarily curing cancer but to control it.”

Dr. Andrew Thorburn
Vice Chairman-Department of Pharmacology, Associate Director for Basic Science

Here are some highlights of programs supported in 2009 and 2010.

• Dr. Paul Bunn, M.D., founder of UCCC, was awarded a $5.2 million Grand Opportunities ARRA grant that will build a multi-center consortium to test 1,000 newly-diagnosed lung adenocarcinomas for a wide variety of genetic mutations, free of charge to patients.

• Dr. Ross Camidge recently announced that a new oral drug called an “ALK inhibitor” is bringing one form of non-small cell lung cancer to a standstill. This type of cancer kills 20,000 Americans every year. The significant results of the research raises the prospect that similar drugs for other forms of lung cancer may also be found.

• Dr. Pepper Schedin recently received two grants totaling $750,000 to continue her work on pregnancy-related breast cancer. As a young scientist, Dr. Schedin’s research was supported by AMC and she is quickly growing an international reputation for her leading work in pregnancy-related breast cancer, a devastating form of cancer that is more virulent than other types of breast cancer. About 50% of all breast cancer among young women occurs within five years of pregnancy.

• In May of 2010, AMC hosted the fourth annual “Gift of Life and Breath” a 5k Run to raise awareness and funds for research into the early detection of lung cancer. Through community support, corporate sponsorships and participant fundraising efforts, the event raised $89,000…more than enough to fund the next year of research conducted by University of Colorado Cancer Center member, Dr. Michael Weyant in collaboration with Dr. Kim O’Neil at Brigham Young University.

• AMC introduced the first annual women's event; Women, Wine and Wisdom, hosting the talented Jonna Tamases in her riotously entertaining, profoundly moving hour-long show "Jonna's Body, Please Hold" as well as the dynamic Dr. Virginia Borges' friendly and highly informative "Girl Talk" session, all you want and need to know about the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Translational Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. After hearing the powerful messages of Dr. Borges and Jonna, guests Walter and Laura Dear were inspired to commit to a matching challenge grant. This means every donation made to the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Program will be matched dollar for dollar. What a dramatic extension of the philanthropic impact the evening prompted!

• The Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the UCCC receives funding from AMC to support its programs in cancer prevention research and early detection, as well as supporting cancer survivors through the Livestrong Center for Excellence and the Cancer Information and Counseling Line. The significance of the prevention of cancer, not to mention the importance of early detection, is seen throughout the research and clinical trials taking place at UCCC in all cancer types. Statistics show that 750,000 lives could be saved through cancer prevention and control. Our work is paying off - there are more than 11 million cancer survivors in the United States today.

Seeking patients, researchers for Rare Cancer Genetics Registry

UCCC is now a participant in the NCI’s Rare Cancer Genetics Registry, which aims to collect genetic material from at least 200 patients who were diagnosed with rare cancers in the past five years. The registry data will be available to cancer researchers around the world.

Jan Lowery, PhD, MPH (AMC Cancer Prevention & Control Program/Colorado School of Public Health) is the grant’s local PI. She has sent letters to UCH doctors with patients diagnosed during the past five years with a rare or uncommon cancer asking for permission to contact the patient about donating blood or saliva to the registry.

“I would like to support recruitment for cancers that our researchers are actively pursuing work in,” Lowery said. “So, if a UCCC member is interested in doing a project in sarcoma, for example, then I’m happy to bump up enrollment of patients in that area to make sure we have a significant number of patients in the national registry.”

The Rare Cancer Genetics Registry, run out of Massachusetts General Hospital, will collect samples from patients with sarcoma, myeloma, head/neck cancer, renal cancer, esophageal cancer, pancreas cancer, gastric cancer, testicular cancer and fallopian tube cancer. Lowery encourages UCH doctors to get back to her about contacting their patients, and all UCCC members who are interested in using genetic material from the research to be in touch. She can be reached at jan.lowery@ucdenver.edu.

A different philosophy of doing business

by Dr. Theodorescu

As I write this, I have been in Colorado for almost two weeks, and sitting behind my desk as director of the University of Cancer Center for 11 days.

During this short time, I’ve spent many hours with UCH President and CEO Bruce Schroffel and with SOM Dean Dick Krugman, MD, to share my vision of what the Cancer Center can be.

I spent two hours in Boulder with Tom Cech, PhD (Molecular Oncology/CU-Boulder) about how we can more closely align his Colorado Initiative for Molecular Biotechnology with the Cancer Center.

I’m scheduled to meet with Lilly Marks, UC Denver’s new vice president for health affairs and executive vice chancellor of the Anschutz Medical Campus.

In the fall, I’ll travel to Ft. Collins to meet with the new director of the Flint Animal Cancer Center at CSU, Rod Page, DVM, and associate director Steve Withrow, DVM (Developmental Therapeutics Program/CSU).

I’m trying to bring a different philosophy and way of doing business, to bring a more inclusive approach to what we do. It’s important to me that we all communicate and that all the stakeholders are heard. Our center will excel if we nurture the natural chemistry and synergies among our consortium members.

If I’m successful in my job, I will to inspire all the smart people in science in Colorado to work in cancer….and that does not include just biologists but mathematicians, physicists, chemists and engineers. We need to make new connections, cross classical disciplinary lines to reinvent how we do cancer research to take advantages of strengths here in Colorado in multidisciplinary research. That’s how we’ll make a difference in cancer.

Introducing Mark Kochevar, MBA
We will be recruiting a few new people. One of my first steps, with the help of the Associate Directors, is to hire Mark Kochevar, MBA, as our new associate director for administration and finance. Mark has worked as an administrator for the NCI, helped lead the University of Maryland’s cancer center and most recently developed and managed the new Medical College of Georgia Cancer Center.

Mark has the proven chops to do this job, and he has an all-star team to lean on in our administrative core. Of course, one of our resident administrative stars is Michaela Montour, MPA, who has graciously done two jobs for the past year as she led the Research Administration office and acted as the interim AD. I am grateful that Michaela will continue on in her research leadership role.

Implementing a new vision
Even though my house is full of boxes and I’ve been in Colorado for less than two weeks, I’m very comfortable here. I’m doing the same type of job I was in Virginia but on a bigger scale. Some of the things I have been thinking about for the past five years—I can now do them here.

I can implement my vision for making sure patients get the kind of coordinated care that they can’t get anywhere else in Colorado (and more about that and our strategic plan development process in a future message). I can also help put some challenges behind us that I see as having hamstrung our abilities to raise money and interact with some of clinical partners. All of this is very exciting to me.

I’m in the process of setting up my clinical practice and moving my lab from Virginia. I will continue to actively lead my lab because it’s important to me that as the Cancer Center director I keep the credibility that comes with being a working scientist and physician.

Sincerely,

Dan Theodorescu MD PhD
Paul Bunn Chair of Cancer Research
Professor of Surgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Director, University of Colorado Cancer Center

How do we challenge prevailing wisdom?

by Andrew Thorburn, Ph.D.
Interim Director
Associate Director for Basic Science
Grohne Chair in Basic Cancer Research

Last week, I said that one of the reasons cancer increases with age is because the longer you live, the more chance you have to accumulate mutations in genes that control cancer.

I was careful to put the word “one” in there but even using that modifier, my statement gave the impression that this “conventional” view, which you’ll find in textbooks, is the most important thing.

Was I right last week? DeGregori says no.
One of the best things for me since I’ve been doing this job is getting feedback about these messages. So it was gratifying that shortly after last week’s message went out, I got a message from Dr. James DeGregori (co-leader, Molecular Oncology Program/SOM Molecular Biology) telling me that I’m wrong.

James thinks the “more time for oncogene mutation” idea probably does contribute a bit to age-related cancer, but it’s not the most important thing. James doesn’t think the “more time” idea can really explain the exponential increase in cancer with aging. Instead, James has been developing a radically different idea that he calls “adaptive oncogenesis.”

Adaptive oncogenesis and stem cell fitness
Cancer is a fascinating area to work in for many reasons, but one of them is that cancer is Darwinian natural selection in action (we’ve talked about this before in the context of treatment but it’s also true for cancer development). So, think back to your basic biology education and the fact that as Theodosius Dobzhansky said in a famous 1973 essay “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.”

Adaptive oncogenesis proposes that, as we age, cancer development is driven by changes in the relative “fitness” (in a natural selection sense) of our stem cells.

James proposes that long-lived organisms like us have evolved stem cell populations with high fitness that prevent selection of cells that have acquired mutations in cancer genes. The idea is that, just as an animal population that is well-adapted to its environment will not change much (i.e. mutations will tend to be weeded out), stem cells with high fitness will tend to be stable. So, if they acquire a new mutation, the status quo will be favored and mutations will tend not to be selected for.

James thinks (and has direct published data) that as we get older, our stem cell fitness declines. And so, now we can get selection for adaptive mutations especially those that confer a cancer advantage. So, the adaptive oncogenesis hypothesis proposes that the high fitness of young stem cells acts against selection for oncogenic mutations, but as we age and fitness declines, this allows selection for cancer to occur.

But what about gene mutations?
James doesn’t deny the importance of mutations. He just thinks that their effects (in our case the development of cancer) can’t be manifested unless the overall fitness of the stem cell compartment is compromised as occurs during aging (or in response to other stresses like radiation exposure).

This is a radical re-thinking of how cancer develops that might provide new perspectives on what cancer is and how to prevent it. If James is correct, the key may not be preventing the acquisition of mutations but rather preserving the fitness of stem cells to ensure that these mutations can’t drive tumor evolution.

Game-changer
This idea didn’t just come out of the sky. Good ideas never do. They come about by putting together other pieces of information and making them into something better.

Others have influenced the adaptive oncogenesis idea, but I think it’s fair to say that James DeGregori is the person who has developed this concept.

So, one of UCCC’s investigators has an original idea that challenges a reigning paradigm about a central aspect of cancer—a really central aspect, how it comes about! And, if he’s right, adaptive oncogenesis could be a game changer that might even lead to strategies to prevent cancer that would never have been considered in the absence of the new idea.

Big money needed
Radical new ideas are not accepted with open arms. The scientific establishment is always saying that we look for innovation. However, the truth is that people are wary of new things.

Add to that the concepts here are not intuitively obvious (and people need to grasp ideas from evolutionary biology) and you see the problem: The reviewers will tend to go for a safer option, which fits with the ideas in the textbooks.

In our system, if he’s going to make real inroads in getting adequate funding (i.e. a big grant from the NCI), James needs to go beyond having the idea. He needs to be halfway down the road of demonstrating its validity.

James had a couple of pilot project grants through a UCCC Cancer and Aging Program grant in the early days of developing his idea. He needs much more, but even that small amount of funding has helped solidify his ideas and get some publications.

However, and I quote him, “The problem has been getting big money. NIH reviewers don't get it.”

What James didn’t tell me was Plan B—what if the next set of NIH reviewers are still too cautious to get behind a guy with a radically different take on things? Should we let an idea die because it’s too original or too hard to get your head around? Should we let it die because it goes against textbooks?

This is why we need funding (mostly from philanthropy but also from grants like the lung cancer SPORE or that Cancer and Aging grant) to start new projects.

And, sometimes, we need more money to keep those ideas alive while we build an argument that is persuasive enough that even risk-averse reviewers will approve the big money that it takes to do the big test.

That’s why the UCCC supporters who provide that funding are just as important a part of our team as the investigator with great ideas that challenge paradigms. Ideas aren’t enough when you’re in the business of changing prevailing wisdom; you need dollars too.


Want to read more of Dr. Thorburn's articles? Read the Director's Newsletter Online: www.uccc.info/dnl

Director's Message: May 18, 2010

On May 6, the President’s Cancer Panel issued a report to the White House that made a bit of a splash—editorials and commentaries in newspapers including a piece by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times.

The bottom line was that the “true burden environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated.” The panel advised President Obama to use the powers of his office to remove carcinogens and toxins from our food, air and water as an urgent priority.

The report had some impact. Kristof, who is someone I read fairly often because he tells me things that I tend to agree with, concluded that we should eat organic food, change water storage methods and check for radon exposure in our homes.

Kristof also made the point that this isn’t just a recommendation from a bunch of wackos: It’s from the President’s Cancer Panel, a group of real experts. Maybe.

While the President’s Cancer Panel member are indeed not wacko, they are also not the final word on all things cancer. In fact, this three-person panel has just two current members because President Obama hasn’t appointed someone to fill a gap yet. I’m not sure of the dictionary definition but I think it’s hard to be a “panel” if you’re just two people.
A better example of a critical report on cancer is this: a committee of more than a dozen leading experts comes to consensus on an issue, such as a recent report from the Institute of Medicine about how to reinvigorate cancer clinical trials in the United States.

The American Cancer Society highlighted a problem in the President’s Cancer Panel report that I agree with. While chemical exposure can be associated with elevated cancer risk, the President’s Cancer Panel report may give people the impression that chemicals in the environment are the BIGGEST risk factor. If a smart guy like Nicholas Kristof gets that impression, its not just overreaction from folks who don’t know any better.

As far as I can tell, the Cancer Panel report is running the danger of presenting hypotheses as firmly established fact. We really don’t know how much cancer risk is associated with environmental chemicals. The problem (and this is where I personally tend to agree with the ACS position) is that it may give the false impression that other modifiable risks are not as important.

My fear is that if we focus on chemicals, an average person might think that if they filter their drinking water and buy organic potatoes they are significantly reducing their cancer risk. Water filtering and eating organic aren’t bad, but reports like the Cancer Panel’s may suggest that ways we know we can reduce cancer risk, like not using tobacco, maintaining a healthy weight and reducing sun exposure, are maybe not so important.

It makes sense to reduce radiation exposure through encouraging radon testing, limiting exposure to known carcinogens like benzene and limiting the amount of radiation exposure through medical screening and other interventions. But I don’t want people to think that the risk of radiation exposure from cancer screening is as big as the risk of the disease unless that’s true (and it almost always won’t be).

I certainly think that better understanding (i.e. more research) on the effects of chemicals is sorely needed. But there are lots of things we need to do research on. Are we really going to carefully analyze 80,000 chemicals without taking resources away from other areas of research that will have a bigger impact?

I fear that we run the risk of diluting our message, that people get further confused by all the information that is thrown at them about things that are “good” or “bad” as regards cancer. And, if we continue to confuse them, we risk sending entirely the wrong message.

It would be a pity if the President’s Cancer Panel Report ends up making people think that environmental chemicals are the biggest problem that we need to deal with. Those of us in the cancer world should focus on ensuring clear messages about what we do know about big, avoidable cancer risks (tobacco, obesity, sun exposure), and if we add things to that list such as chemical exposure, we should do so with a similar level of confidence that our messages are indeed fact and not hypothesis.

And, we should make sure we’re clear about which of these provide the highest risks to people and make sure we convey the message that dealing with tobacco and the like should be our first priority.

Sincerely,

Andrew Thorburn
Interim Director
Associate Director for Basic Science
Grohne Chair for Basic Cancer Research

New study supports move toward fewer mamograms

from the Los Angeles Times

If you're still upset about last fall's recommendation by the u.S. Preventative Services Task Force that women begin getting mammograms to screen for breast cancer at age 50 instead of 40 — and to get them every other year instead of annually — a new study from Denmark may put you at ease.

Mammographic screening was introduced in the Danish capital of Copenhagen in 1991, and it began in Funen County (home of Hans Christian Andersen) in 1993.

Between 1997 and 2006, deaths due to breast cancer fell 5 percent per year among women age 35-54 in those areas. For women age 55-74 — who would benefit most from screening — the mortality rate dropped by 1 percent per year, and for older women there was little change.

Looks like a success for breast cancer screening right? Not so fast, the researchers said.

They also checked the corresponding mortality rates for the 80 percent of Danish women who didn't participate in screening programs. In those areas, breast cancer deaths in the same decade declined 6 percent per year for women age 35-54 and by 2 percent per year for women age 55-74. Again, there was little year-to- year change among older women.

Those findings led the researchers to conclude that improved treatments and changes in risk factors, not the mammograms, were responsible for the reduction in breast cancer mortality.

Less food, more exercise lower risk for breast cancer

Up to a third of breast cancer cases in Western countries could be avoided if women ate less and exercised more, said researchers at a conference held in Barcelona, Spain in March, renewing a sensitive debate about how lifestyle factors affect the disease.

Better treatments, early diagnosis and mammogram screenings have dramatically slowed breast cancer, but experts said the focus should now shift to changing behaviors like diet and physical activity.

"What can be achieved with screening has been achieved. We can't do much more," Carlo La Vecchia, head of epidemiology at the University of Milan, said in an interview. "It's time to move on to other things."

La Vecchia spoke on Thursday, March 25, at a European breast cancer conference in Barcelona. He cited figures from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which estimates that 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer cases could be avoided if women were thinner and exercised more. The agency is part of the World Health Organization.

His comments are in line with recent health advice that lifestyle changes in areas such as smoking, diet, exercise and sun exposure can play a significant role in risk for several cancers.

Dr. Michelle Holmes of Harvard University, who has studied cancer and lifestyle factors, said people might wrongly think their chances of getting cancer depend more on their genes than their lifestyle.

"The genes have been there for thousands of years, but if cancer rates are changing in a lifetime, that doesn't have much to do with genes," she told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. In Europe, there were about 421,000 new cases and nearly 90,000 deaths in 2008, the latest available figures. The United States last year saw more than 190,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths.

A woman's lifetime chance of getting breast cancer is about one in eight. Obese women are up to 60 percent more likely to develop any cancer than normal-weight women, according to a 2006 study by British researchers.

Many breast cancers are fueled by estrogen, a hormone produced in fat tissue. So experts suspect that the fatter a woman is, the more estrogen she's likely to produce, which could in turn fuel breast cancer. Even in slim women, experts believe exercise can help reduce the cancer risk by converting more fat into muscle.

Cancer Information and Counseling Line

The Cancer Information and Counceling Line (CICL) provides support and follow-up to cancer survivors is a resource available at UCCC. A toll-free call-in service the CICL, provides cancer-related information and brief counseling by telephone (1-800-525-3777) as a national service to cancer patients, cancer survivors, their families and friends and the general public. It is the only service of its kind offered at a NCI-CCC.

What “Comprehensive Cancer Center” should really mean

by: Dr. Andrew Thorburn, Interim Director, University of Colorado Cancer Center*

So, what should “comprehensive” actually mean?
For us it means tackling the full gamut of areas that are important if we are to succeed in solving the cancer problem.

•For a truly comprehensive approach, we need to understand as much as possible about all aspects of cancer so that we can eventually prevent the approximately 50 percent or so of tumors that current data suggest could be prevented.
•We need to detect tumors early enough that they are easily dealt with.
•For those tumors that we can’t prevent or detect early, we need to develop better treatment strategies while delivering the highest quality of clinical care to our patients.

We don’t stop there. For us “comprehensive” extends to better understanding how to improve the lives of cancer survivors and their families and friends. It also means providing high-quality education at all levels from training the next generation of researchers, physicians and other health care providers to ensuring that the general public has accurate information about all aspects of cancer.

Previously, I wrote about our ability to determine molecular structures—research at the atomic level that is just about as basic as one can get. This week, in keeping with the idea that for UCCC, comprehensive means what it says, I thought we would consider the other end of the spectrum: cancer survivorship.

There are 12 million cancer survivors in the United States today.
That fact is both a call for celebration and the reason why we need survivorship programs. People who just a few years ago might not have survived their disease are now being successfully treated. So, since we expect to continue to improve the numbers of people who survive cancer, we’d better work on improving how we deal with survivorship.

UCCC is well-known for its cancer survivorship work through our AMC Cancer Prevention and Control Program and for the leadership of program co-leader Dr. Al Marcus (SOM/Cancer Center), and UCCC deputy director and AD for Prevention and Control, Dr. Tim Byers (CSPH). One measure of this success: UCCC is one of just eight Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG™ Centers of Survivorship Excellence. This grant supports our cancer survivorship clinics.


*for the complete article and more information on cancer survivorship clinics, please contact Frieda Sands at sandsf@amc.org

SIP to your Hearts' Delight

SIP Fine Wines invites you to join them on Saturday, March 6, 2010 from 2 pm to 7 pm for a wine tasting event benefitting the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Featuring Infinite Theorem Monkey wines and serving gourmet appetizers from Truffles

SIP Fine Wine and Spirits
1920 Market Street
Denver, CO 80202
303-298-9463 (WINE)
www.sipwinedenver.com

Visit Jamba Juice February 12, 13, 14!

Join Jamba Juice and AMC Cancer Fund, partners in creating hope through science, for the first fundraising event of the year. Visit any of the 17 participating Jamba Juice locations this weekend, and they will donate 20% of the proceeds to support cancer prevention and control programs at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Jamba Juice doesn't cure cancer, but creates hope by supporting those who can.

Cancer Survivors Rally to Support American Cancer Society: Who, What, When, Where and How!

WHO: The American Cancer Society invites individuals who want to honor cancer survivors (anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer) and caregivers, or pay tribute to those who have lost their battle with cancer to join its Relay For Life of Thornton, scheduled for July 17, 2010 at 3 p.m. at the Thornton Multipurpose Fields (108th and Colorado Boulevard).

In 1985, Relay For Life began with one man who walked and ran around a track for 24 hours raising $27,000. This year, Relay For Life is coming to you in more than 4,800 communities.

WHAT: The Relay For Life of Thornton Kickoff Rally is where anyone – families, caregivers,cancer survivors, schools, companies, etc. – get together to kick off the annual Relay For Life of Thornton activities.

The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is an overnight community celebration where individuals and teams camp out, barbecue, dance, and take turns walking around a track relay style to raise funds to fight cancer. At nightfall, participants will light hundreds of luminaria around the track in a moving ceremony to honor cancer survivors as well as friends and family members lost to the disease. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life represents hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day cancer will be eliminated. Because of events like this one, more people are celebrating more birthdays.

WHEN: Thursday, February 11, 2010 – 6:30‐8:00 p.m.

WHERE: Margaret W. Carpenter Recreation Center, 11151 Colorado Boulevard, Thornton

HOW: To join the Relay For Life of Thornton, contact Judy Colasuonno (Event Chair) at
720‐273‐0997 or thorntonrelayforlife@gmail.com or visit our website at
www.thorntonrelay.org

Director's Message: January 5, 2010

It has been my honor to serve as the interim director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center over these past 12 months. During 2009 the Cancer Center grew in membership, publications and grants. Most importantly, we recruited an outstanding new director, Dr. Dan Theodorescu, who will begin his work here on July 1.

Over the next six months, Dr. Andrew Thorburn will assume the position of interim director, and I will resume my duties as deputy director and as UCCC associate director for cancer prevention and control. Andrew has been an important member of the Cancer Center leadership team over this past year. I look forward to his leadership as the interim director as we begin work on the competing core grant renewal and prepare for Dan’s arrival.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the many who were particularly helpful to me and the Cancer Center over this past year: especially to Dean Krugman, who is a strong supporter of everything we do here, to the UCCC associate directors and program leaders, who provide such outstanding scientific leadership, and to Michaela Montour and the outstanding administrative team who make this complex organization work so well. Thank you all.

Tim Byers, MD, MPH
Deputy Director, University of Colorado Cancer Center
Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control, University of Colorado Cancer Center
Associate Dean for Public Health Practice, Colorado School of Public Health