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April 14, 2015
In Support of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center
at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio
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From the PresidentLiz Conklyn
The cover story for the March 30 issue of Time was titled: Closing the Cancer Gap. The
article talked about the exciting breakthroughs in cancer treatment. However, its underlying
personal story centered on two women with brain cancer. One was receiving up-to-theminute therapy and one was receiving traditional treatments.
According to Time: “For now, many factors that have nothing to do with science
determine which trial drugs a patient has access to. There’s geography, since most
Americans are treated at the hospital closest to home, and most hospitals don’t have a lot of
clinical trials under way at any given time.”
Every day in San Antonio, the talented professionals at the CTRC wage war on cancer in
their labs, through clinical trials, and at the patient’s bedside. Because they live and work
here, there is no geography gap for our families.
When CTRC Council members buy a ticket to a luncheon, pay membership dues, or
make a donation, we are supporting the break-through research and the compassionate care
that is the hallmark of the CTRC.
Every dollar and every hour that we contribute makes a difference. There are wonderful
opportunities to be a part of the CTRC effort available soon: the Annual Spring Luncheon,
Partners Shopping Card, Book & Author Luncheon, and all the CTRC Council volunteer
activities. Let’s continue to help CTRC remain a vital force in our community!
Annual Spring Luncheon
Tables and Tickets are Going Fast for
the 2015 Annual Spring Luncheon!
Reservations Must Be Made by April
20th!
The CTRC Council’s 22nd Annual
Spring Luncheon will be held
on Monday, May 11, 2015, at the Omni
Hotel in the Colonnade. We hope you
have purchased your table or ticket
because they are going fast!
Each year the proceeds of the
luncheon go to the Patient Assistance
Fund, providing patients at the Cancer
Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) with much needed help for transportation, food,
prescription assistance and other needs.
Our featured speaker this year will be Geralyn Lucas, renowned author of Why I Wore
Lipstick to my Mastectomy and Then Came Life. Geralyn will share the moving story of
her challenges, her faith, and the transformation that helped her to discover her own courage.
We will also honor the CTRC Council Volunteers of the Year, Mary Brook and Nancy
Hillis.
To ensure priority seating, you may purchase your table or ticket online or download this
form and return by April 20, 2015. In the meantime, should you have any questions, please
do not hesitate to call us at (210) 450-5571.
Annual Spring Luncheon Raffle Tickets on Sale Now!
Online and Mail Purchases Must Be Made by
April 20th!
The winners of six fabulous raffle packages will
be announced at the 2015 Annual Spring Luncheon
to be held on Monday, May 11, 2015. We want to
draw your name! So buy your raffle tickets now
and buy lots of them! Tickets are $10 each or 3 for
$25. Proceeds will benefit the CTRC Patient
Assistance Fund.
Purchase your raffle tickets online or download this form and mail to the address
indicated.
2015 CTRC Council Annual Spring Luncheon Raffle Prizes:
1.Wine Collection Total Value: $2,100
4 Cases of Assorted Wines
2.Sweetheart Package Total Value: $2,575
His & Hers Mido Watches from Gurinsky’s Jewelers
2 Nights Stay at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort
3.Golf Package Total Value: $2,680
Golf for 4 at:
Briggs Ranch
Dominion Country Club
Oak Hills Country Club
TPC Marriott
4.Sports & Entertainment Package Total Value: $2,075
2 Spurs Tickets, Charter Seats, Parking Pass (2015-2016 Season)
Signed Bottle of Gregg Popovich Rock & Hammer Wine
2 Season Tickets to Ballet San Antonio (2015-2016 Season)
4 Tickets to a Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio Performance
Sunday Brunch for 4 at Oak Hills Country Club
5.His & Hers Jewelry Package Total Value: $2,200
Ivanka Trump 18k Yellow Gold Rock Crystal & Diamond Octagonal Drop Earrings
from Moretti’s Fine Jewelry
Men’s Stainless Steel Accutron Ana-Digi Chrono Alarm Watch
6.Americus Diamond Package Total Value: $2,500
Circle of Support Diamond Pendant
The Big Give
Support the CTRC Council at the Big Give S.A. on May 5, 2015.
24 hours of community giving & one incredible chance to Shape San Antonio’s future!
Check out the CTRC Council Big Give Page!
On May 5th, 2015, San Antonio will come together for 24 hours of nonprofit giving during
the Big Give S.A. It’s your chance to make a real impact, as part of family and community. All
you have to do is commit to donating to the CTRC Council on May 5th through the Big Give
SA website and you help us become eligible for prize money and matching dollar
opportunities.
How does your donation to the CTRC Council help cancer patients? Watch the
video!
The financial burden of surviving cancer can be profound and your donation will help the
CTRC Council lessen the financial burden of cancer treatment and give hope to cancer
patients who find themselves in desperate circumstances. Here’s how your donation can
help:
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Imagine being the parent of a small child and hearing the diagnosis of “cancer.” Now
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imagine that you are facing surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments and not
able to work and earn a paycheck for the basic essentials like groceries and utilities.
This is a situation faced by many cancer patients.
Here’s where the CTRC Council makes a tremendous impact in the lives of CTRC
cancer patients through our donations to the Patient Assistance Fund. The Fund is
used to help cancer patients with meals, groceries, lodging, transportation, fuel, and
utilities.
How can YOU help make The Big Give S.A. a success? Local giving days are driven by
the energy of the community, and the most important things you can do to help make The Big
Give S.A. a success for the CTRC Council are:
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Make a Gift on May 5th
Like BigGiveSA on Facebook and follow on Twitter @BigGiveSA
Become a social media champion for the CTRC Council
Spread the word like crazy!
Membership
Save the Date!!!
CTRC Council Annual Membership Meeting
The date is: June 18, 2015
The time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Invitations to follow!!
The Annual Membership Drive Continues
We hope we can count on your membership renewal to help our non-profit organization to
continue our mission to support the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health
Science Center San Antonio (CTRC). The CTRC is the only National Cancer Institute
designated cancer center in San Antonio and South Texas, and it is one of only four in Texas.
As a member, you will have the opportunity to participate in:
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Annual Spring Luncheon, May 11
Summer Membership Reception, June 18
Partners Shopping Card, Oct. 9-18
San Antonio Express-News Book & Author Luncheon, Nov. 5
Educational health forums and our e-Connect online and monthly newsletters.
Join the over 750 members who support the CTRC Council today. You may join
onlinewww.ctrccouncil.org. Please join by April 15th to be listed in our membership directory.
If you have already joined, we thank you for your continued vital support.
16th Anniversary of Partners Shopping Card. We are off
to a tremendous beginning!
Those of us on the Partners Shopping Card
committee are thrilled at the tremendous response
we have already received from Partners Shopping
Card Underwriters and Business Partners. A huge
thank you goes to Nancy and Charlie Cheever,
Karen Heintz, Janey B. Marmion, Mays Family
Foundation, Charline McCombs, Lori Wright,
and Karen Lee & David Zachary for their
generous contributions. Underwriting donations pay
for the expenses of this fundraiser, allowing more of
the proceeds from the sale of the Partners
Shopping Cards to be donated to the Cancer
Center Council Distinguished Chair in Oncology.
Any underwriting donations received beyond the
expenses are also donated to the endowment. That
means more dollars are put to work in Dr.
Wargovich's lab (see tips below on how to put his
research into action in your life).
Underwriters are recognized in the PSC Brochure, the PSC Directory, on the CTRC
Council website, and at the Partners Shopping Card Kick-off Party and La Cantera Launch.
In kind donations are also welcomed. If you would like to join these supporters as an
Underwriter of the Partners Shopping Card or would like information about the different
levels of underwriting, please call the CTRC Council office at 210-450-5571.
Partners Shopping Card Agreements were recently mailed to last year’s Business
Partners. Thank you to the many businesses who have already signed on to participate
again this year. In the past we called these our Retail Partners, but with so many kinds of
businesses participating now, “retail” doesn’t tell the whole story. If you are interested in
signing up your store, restaurant, spa, or service as a Business Partner, please call the
CTRC Council office at210-450-5571 or Lisa Grove. Chair of Partners Shopping
Card at 210-857-7085 or complete the form on the CTRC Council website.
Like and follow the PSC on Facebook!
San Antonio Express News Book & Author Luncheon Thursday, November 5, 2015
Jan Newton, Vice-President- Book & Author, will be joined by the following Co-Chairs
for 2015:
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Mary Brook, Past President of the CTRC Council, as the Volunteer Co-Chair
Dr. Virginia Kaklamani, Director of the Breast Cancer Program at the CTRC, as
the Medical Community Co-Chair
The initial Kickoff meeting for the Book and Author Committee is scheduled for May 1st.
Patient Services
Helping Hands is still in need of toiletries and also small bottles of water. Won’t you
please look over the new Helping Hands list and see what you might be able to collect for
cancer patients and their families. They will appreciate anything and everything you can
provide. You may drop these items off at the CTRC Wellness Center (Grossman building,
1st floor).
Carla Bergner, P Frinee Sabella, Caroline Seay, and Arlene Wueste went to the San
Antonio Food Bank to pick up food to re-stock the CTRC food pantry, mark the expiration
dates and prepare boxes with food for patients in need of help. We need more volunteers
for this monthly event. If you would like to help, please contact Carla
Bergner cmbergner@gmail.com. You can also contact Mary
Jackson jacksonm4@uthscsa.edu or P. Frinee Sabella atfrineesabella@gmail.com.
Carla Bergner, her husband Kevin
Bergner and P. Frinee Sabella attended
the San Antonio Food Bank’s 7th Annual
Golden Apple Awards, in representation of
the CTRC. It is an event where the San
Antonio Food Bank honors their Partner
Agencies. This event was a very nice and
emotive ceremony.
Did You Know?
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The CTRC is the ONLY National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Centers
in South Texas (one of only 4 in Texas and one of 68 nationwide).
Approximately 20 of the most effective anticancer drugs that are standard-of-care
and in use today, were developed or first tested right here at the CTRC’s Institute
for Drug Development.
On March 11, 2015, the CTRC treated the first patient in the world with an
innovative new therapy (developed here at the CTRC) for glioblastoma that has the
potential to completely revolutionize future treatments for brain cancer patients and
dramatically improve outcomes.
You can go to the CTRC for your annual mammograms. Your mammogram will be
viewed by one of our expert CTRC radiologists who specialize in breast images….
while you wait! No more waiting for results in the mail! Your digital mammograms
will be saved and compared each year during your annual visit. Simply call (210)
450-5050 for an appointment and bring your mammogram prescription with you.
Sheri Ortiz
Senior Director of Development
Cancer Therapy & Research Center
Patient & Family Services - Blessings
Walking into the office this morning, I took a moment to reflect. A half-moon was just
setting behind the yellow-budded huisache trees. There were wispy clouds passing through
the gray early morning sky and the air was heavy with just a hint of an upcoming rainstorm.
It is a glorious morning with a day ahead full of promise.
I often say I have the best job at CTRC. No day is ever the same. One day can be spent
planning for an upcoming event, the next day I’m focused on volunteer issues but always
the patients are at the center of what I do. I have the distinct privilege to witness courage
and fortitude. The patients inspire me and make me realize the many blessings that are in
my life.
I have the luxury to go home at the end of the day, to a comfortable house with a pantry
stocked with food. I have a family that loves me and cares for me. I have more than enough
of everything and most importantly I have my health. All are blessings I tend to take for
granted until I meet those who are struggling.
What must it be like to have cancer but no money to pay for pain medicine? How would
it be to need chemotherapy but no way to get to the clinic? Imagine not having enough to
eat, a safe place to sleep or someone to help. Having cancer is a tremendous blow but can
be compounded exponentially when resources aren’t available.
That’s when the CTRC Council steps in. The Council removes the barriers that keep
patients from receiving treatment. The Council provides the funds to operate the
transportation service, helps patients pay for prescriptions, co-pays, food and other
emergency needs. The Council makes it possible for patients to focus on getting better.
Funds to help patients would not be available without the Council’s tireless efforts to
support the CTRC. Through the year the Council puts on many events to raise the money
needed to help the patients. One of the biggest events and the primary source of revenue
for the CTRC Patient Assistance Fund is the upcoming Spring Luncheon.
This year, Ms. Geralyn Lucas, cancer survivor and author of Why I Wore Lipstick to My
Mastectomy, and Then Came Life is the guest speaker. She will regale us with her story
of survivorship. It is guaranteed to be a remarkable event. Excellent speaker, terrific food
and caring guests will be assembled to make a difference in our patient’s lives. All the
money raised at the luncheon goes to provide rides, food, medicine, shelter and more. I
encourage each and every one of you to attend.
Your generosity removes the worry about the practical aspects of cancer treatment.
Without these burdens our patients can begin to enjoy a sunrise, a cool breeze, a glorious
day. Your gifts help our patients find the joy in everyday life. Your support makes it possible
for patients to overcome cancer. You are the unsung heroes. You are our patients' blessing!
Mary Jackson, CTRC Director of Patient & Family Services
New Brain Cancer Clinical Trial Launched at CTRC
Dr. Andrew Brenner, a neurooncologist at the University of Texas
Health Science Center at San
Antonio's Cancer Therapy &
Research Center, is leading a clinical
trial involving a unique treatment
technology for patients with brain
tumors.
David Williams is the first human
being ever to have a new radiation
treatment implanted in the center
of his brain tumor.
The technology, developed at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University
of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, uses tiny radioactive liposomes, or fat
particles, only 100 nanometers across, inserted by the thinnest of catheters directly into a
tumor. There they remain, radiating only a tiny distance, affecting only the tumor.
Andrew Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., a neuro-oncologist, is leading the clinical trial at the
CTRC, and expects to start the second patient on the study within a month.
At his first follow-up appointment Monday, Williams reported feeling great, and said he
did not experience the side effects that one normally does after conventional radiation
therapy. That technology must send its beams through healthy tissue to reach the tumor,
and so must be limited in the amount of radiation it delivers.
“This technology is unique,” Dr. Brenner said. “Only we can load the liposomes to
these very high radioactivity levels.”
The concept was developed by nuclear medicine physician William T. Phillips, M.D.,
and biochemist Beth A. Goins, Ph.D., in the Department of Radiology; and Ande Bao,
Ph.D., a medical physicist and pharmaceutical chemist formerly in the Department of
Otolaryngology, all of the School of Medicine at the Health Science Center. They
originally thought of trying it in head and neck cancers.
But Dr. Brenner had a different idea.
“I thought it made sense to use it in brain cancer first,” he said. “The skull is a rigid
structure” and the tissue inside is much less varied, he said, whereas in the neck and other
parts of the head there are many different kinds of tissue and lots of moving parts. He
worked with neurosurgeon John R. Floyd II, M.D., to apply the first treatment to Mr. Williams
on March 10.
“One of the challenges is how to get the highly radioactive nano liposomes into the brain,
and precisely into the tumor,” Dr. Floyd said. “Surgical targeting, precision, and delivery
became of the utmost importance.”
In the past, using a catheter to apply traditional chemotherapy has run into problems
because of the catheter design, Dr. Floyd said. “To effectively deliver this novel
therapy, and improve our surgical targeting, we would need a better catheter. The
one we are using is a new design, enabling us to deliver small quantities in precise
locations. We are very pleased already with delivery in our first case.”
While not all brain tumors are malignant, the glioblastoma is especially deadly. To add to
that, as the tumor advances it affects the brain in unpredictable ways, often involving radical
shifts in personality and behavior.
“It’s a terrible thing for a family to lose a loved one to glioblastoma,” Dr. Brenner said.
“It’s tough to lose them to any cancer, but with the brain tumor you see them change right
before your eyes.”
The early research was incredibly promising, but to get a cancer drug to the clinical
stage and see how it works in patients takes a mountain of work, a pile of money, and
usually long years of regulatory processes. This particular project attracted the attention
of the CTRC Foundation, which partnered with the Health Science Center to found
NanoTx Therapeutics to help move the research into clinical trials.
Working with NanoTx, Dr. Brenner wrote business and scientific proposals, gaining a $2
million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas in February.
“It is exceedingly unusual for any major university or cancer center to take a basic
science discovery from the lab all the way through the marathon of requirements and
hurdles, and to then witness a patient receiving the treatment,” said CTRC Director
Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D. “This is a testimony to our dedicated scientists and
physicians, to our institution's commitment to major advances in clinical care, and to
so many individuals in the San Antonio community who helped make it possible.”
It can be hard to explain to desperate family members that not everybody is eligible for a
study, and that the study is just that – not a guarantee of cure.
“You never know until you begin the studies how a human being is going to react to a
new therapy, and we have to be very careful about how we proceed on that,” Dr. Brenner
said. And in this case it’s not only the therapy that’s new, it’s how it gets to the tumor.
“The main limitation right now is we have to start with small-sized tumors, until we get a
better handle on our delivery methods, to make sure we can cover larger tumors,” he said.
Caution is the word on new therapies in general – that’s why they go through such an
enormous vetting process before they ever get to the first patient.
But Dr. Brenner has a good feeling about this one.
“I don’t like to oversell an unproven drug,” he said, “but I would like to say the
laboratory results were very encouraging. I have evaluated a lot of therapeutics and I
have not seen this level of efficacy before.”
Elizabeth Allen
Sheri Ortiz
Media Relations Officer
CTRC Senior Director of Development
The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio (210) 450-5512
7979 Wurzbach Road MC 8035
San Antonio, TX 78229-4427
work: 210-450-2020; mobile: 210-621-7592
Spotlight on CTRC Council
Trustee
Donna Muslin
"News You Can Use"---In October of 2000 an article appeared in the Express-News
stating "1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer". It was indeed a thought
provoking fact--a reminder to schedule regular mammograms, eat well and think positive. I
had had a clear mammo in August; None-the-less 6 weeks later I was seated at a table at a
fundraiser for Any Baby Can with 7 other women and thought, “I could be the 1 in 8".
However, having had the recent mammo I was confident I was "home free".
Not really. I was on vacation in Dec. and while getting dressed, actually saw a small lump
on my left breast. Following a mammogram and biopsy when I returned home, I was told "it
is cancer", however, it is first stage and treatment will probably be minimal. Such was not
the case as when the biopsy results were returned, I learned that the cancer was extremely
aggressive and recommended treatment would include surgery, extensive chemotherapy
and booster radiation which would take close to a year.
My journey with cancer began in Jan. 2001. I was not "home free" but neither was I
afraid. I had volunteered at CTRC for several years for the skin cancer clinic, prostate clinic
and the Breast Cancer Symposium. I was confident that I would receive the very best care
that was available anywhere. I had faith in my doctors, my caregivers and the Lord.
My faith was not unfounded. My doctors talked to each other, to my family and to me.
They suggested books to read, food to eat, vitamin supplements to take and answered
endless questions and explained what I did not understand. They cared not only for me but
also about me. My nurses and caregivers gave hugs with the many injections, chocolate
with the Tylenol and listened to my silly stories.
My journey during cancer treatment was completed in early Nov. I do not believe there
was a day during that time that I did not thank God for CTRC and the beyond excellent care
and concern which I received. Today, 14 years later, I continue to be grateful to each of the
extraordinary people who touched my life.
I am honored and blessed to be a Trustee and Board member of the CTRC Council, to
be even a small part of the caring, dedicated and focused membershipof the council as we
all work together to support treatment and research which will make cancer obsolete.
The Journey goes on!!!
Metformin
Michael J. Wargovich, Ph.D., CTRC Council Distinguished
Chair in Oncology
One of the first line drugs used to treat elevated blood sugar is a very old, cheap, and
effective drug known as metformin. This compound not only helps most people to control
blood sugar, it is also relatively side effect free. Recent studies have indicated a more
powerful collateral benefit for taking metformin-cancer prevention! Preclinical research (akin
to what we do in the Wargovich Lab) suggests that metformin appears to inhibit the
proliferation and growth of certain types of cancer. The exciting news, while in early days,
from numerous clinical studies indicate that longer metformin use and possibly
accumulating doses of metformin, are associated not only with decreased incidence of
cancer in diabetic population, but also with the better outcome in cancer patients who have
been treated for their cancers. Noteworthy data indicate that cancers of the colon,
pancreas, liver, and prostate are inhibited by long term use of metformin. The big question,
one that has yet to be resolved, is the safety of using this drug known to alter blood glucose
levels in the population that is non-diabetic. Stay tuned.
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The mission of the CTRC Council is to support the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at
The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio through cancer education, community
outreach, fundraising, patient assistance and volunteer service.
Be sure to add CTRCcouncil@uthscsa.edu to your address book or safe senders list
so our emails get to your inbox.
CTRC Council 7979 Wurzbach Suite U600, San Antonio, Texas 78229
Phone: 210.450.5571 | Email: CTRCcouncil@uthscsa.edu
http://CTRCcouncil.org
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