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Wishing you and yours the most wonderful and blessed holiday season ever!
To all our Supporters, Friends and Colleagues and especially to the Patients and Caregivers we serve and to the Healthcare Workers who tirelessly work on behalf of all of us! First of all, I want to take this opportunity to mark the passing of a momentous year and wish everyone a much better 2021. It certainly has been quite the ride! I want to start off 2021 by sharing exciting news from Corporate Partner GT Medical who offer a truly groundbreaking treatment for those undergoing surgery for their brain tumor in the form of safe and effective surgically targeted radiation delivered right to the tumor site. I personally believe that GammaTile Therapy is a game changer for patients with malignant brain tumors and would like to personally congratulate those centers achieving ELITE status in 2020: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center University of Minnesota M Health Fairview HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center NorthShore University HealthSystem Mayfield Brain & Spine Read the full press release HERE. I am looking for these numbers to increase exponentially in 2021. Because it means that far more patients with brain tumors will start off their journey with radiation that’s targeted to their tumor and is much less debilitating. […]
Hi guys! I am extremely excited to share what I believe is groundbreaking news in the battle against brain cancer and other solid tumors. In this case, it’s a response-prediction test which improves outcomes by testing live cancer cells against a number of potential therapies to demonstrate which ones will be most effective in killing the tumor cells. Results are available in just seven days and provide oncologists with evidence-based guidelines in choosing which drug therapy to use. This means that instead of randomly picking a drug from many possibilities, oncologists are able select the drug that is most likely be of help. Read the full press release HERE. Results to date are based on an extremely small sample of recurrent GBM patients and are promising, doubling median progression free survival time from 4 months to 7.9 months. KIYATEC’s test results informed two of the seven patients’ successful treatment with dabrafenib, a targeted agent. Neither had a typically associated genetic mutation, demonstrating that the test can uncover effective drug options that would have normally been missed. KIYATEC’s test is currently only available in clinical trials (see https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03561207 for details). They are now accepting patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent malignant […]
Hi guys! One of my most favorite things to do under my leadership of the EndBrainCancer Initiative is to talk directly to patients with brain cancer and to hear first hand, “their story” and to “see” with my own eyes as well as to “hear” with my own ears how they IMPACT others simply by the way they are living with and fighting their brain tumor. I see such amazing Courage and Inspiration every day from patients with brain cancer and now, I want to meet them and share their stories with all of you and pick one of them to honor at this year’s EBCI National “HOPE” Award. Due to COVID-19, our National “HOPE” Award, sponsored by www.Novocure.com, was not presented in May like it usually is during our annual “Brains Matter” Education, Awareness & ACTION Event as we had to reschedule this event to July 30th. Now, also due to COVID-19, this event is now cancelled but NOT our National “HOPE” Award Initiative! WE ARE GOING FORWARD WITH THIS AWARD COME LOW OR HIGH WATER! We are seeking nominations for this award and now, with the launch of my weekly “Having a Say” Zoom Video Meeting Series, I […]
Today, May 31, 2020, the very last day of #BTAM month, I find myself reflecting on many things and just looked through the photos from last year’s Bellingham Brain Cancer WALK (BBCW) , Presenting Sponsor: Novocure (www.novocure.com) and am smiling and crying at the same time. Just look at these photos! What a super cool day it was! View Event Photos Here: https://www.facebook.com/braincancerwalkbellingham/ Let’s first talk about Hannah. The late Hannah Dashiell was (and, in my mind, is, as she STILL INSPIRES ME) an amazing young women from Bellingham, WA who wanted to honor her grandfather, Jerry Jerowski, who had died from brain cancer in 2007, by creating a brain tumor awareness walk during the month of May, National Brain Tumor Awareness Month, #BTAM, and chose to create this WALK as her High School Senior Class Project. Hannah was and is a bright light for her family, her friends, the entire EndBrainCancer Initiative (EBCI) team and for the brain tumor community and general public that we have been lucky enough to share Hannah’s story with. Thank you Hannah for your desire to make a difference in this world, INSPIRE others, including me and look what you started! Thank you Hannah. […]
The End Brain Cancer Initiative connects brain tumor patients, caregivers and their families immediately to advanced treatments & clinical trials. Connecting to: 1) TOP Brain Tumor Neurosurgeons, Neuro-oncologists and Specialists in the U.S.; 2) Immunotherapy Vaccines; 3) 2nd, 3rd, 4th opinions; 4) Genomic Profiling/DNA Sequencing; 5) MGMT and Protein Testing
Our focus is survivorship. Everything we do and advocate is focused on that goal.
We are Here to Talk and Answer Questions: It begins with a conversation. We are here for you to listen and advise you if you have been diagnosed with brain cancer. Our care coordinators standing by to take any of your questions or concerns.
Personal Review of Your Case: Review your case with the End Brain Cancer Medical Advisory board
Ongoing Review: Personal review of your case and any MRI or pathology reports
Help You Network with Others: We put patients and caregivers in touch with other families and survivors who are going through or who have gone through the same thing
Ongoing Support: We help talk with patients and caregivers about how the disease can progress and answer questions
Connecting You Rapidly to Specialists and Cancer Centers: We connect patients with advanced brain tumor treatment centers and specialists. We get the patient medical records in front of other specialists to get first, second, third and fourth opinions.
Connecting you to Top Neurosurgeons: We connect patients to neurosurgeons who can and do operate even when the patient was told the tumor was inoperable.
Access to New & Promising Treatment Approaches: We provide specialists a platform to get in front of other professionals, patients, caregivers, families, etc. to talk about their research or the latest treatment they are able to offer.
Make Appointments: Make appointments and facilitate communication between local medical team and brain tumor specialists.
Insurance Help: Assist with insurance questions
Financial Advice & Resourcing: Find resources to help with financial concerns
Informing Patients: We provide you with the latest information on Brain Tumor Research, including free publications from Chris Elliott Fund and other Brain Tumor related organizations.
Supporting Family & Caregivers: We work with your family and caregivers to inform and support them
Empowering You to Access the Best Specialists: We Provide patients and caregivers the educational materials and questions to ask of their doctors to make sure they are being seen by a top specialist as well as what to demand from their neuro-surgeon, pathologist, radiologist and neuro-oncologist/Oncologist in order to be eligible for advanced treatments, clinical trials, DNA sequencing, genomic profiling, MGMT testing as well as protein testing. All this data supports research but with top specialists, this data helps the specialist identify the treatment option that the patient is most likely to respond to = Personalized Medicine based on the molecular profile of the tumor + makes Immunotherapy, Vaccines and other clinical trials available to P/C.
Helping You Become a Rockstar Advocate: We will walk with you as you yourself advocate for your own health and treatment. It can be a huge challenge to advocate for your own treatment with medical professionals. We are here to equip you to do just that.
Helping You Work with Insurance: We know how to work with your insurance. We will work on your behalf with insurance companies as well as partner with other advocacy organizations, such as Patient Advocate Foundation and Cancer Legal Resource Center, to meet your needs.
