(Clearwater, FL) January 11, 2012 -- Miles For Hope announced today that the brain tumor vaccine clinical trial, Optimizing Dendritic Cell Vaccination for Low Grade Glioma Patients, is now open and accepting new patients.  Patients must have a Grade II Brain Tumor and surgery at UCLA to qualify for the trial. The trial is a Phase II Clinical Trial Evaluating Autologous Dendritic Cells Pulsed with Tumor Lysate Antigen for the Treatment of Low-grade Gliomas.

This clinical trial was proudly funded by Miles For Hope, Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure and The Stephen M. Coffman Charitable Trust.  In July 2011, these non-profit organizations came together to jointly fund a $100,000 research grant to University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) neurosurgeon Linda Liau, M.D., PhD to begin this clinical trial, Optimizing Dendritic Cell Vaccination for Low Grade Glioma Patients. This is the first trial of its kind for patients that have been diagnosed with low grade gliomas, a common form of brain cancer.  This research has the potential to improve the lives of brain cancer patients.

Membership to the Miles for Hope "Gray Ribbon Club" is easy. To become a member, you must raise a minimum of $ 1,000 individually for Miles for Hope. We sincerely appreciate ALL of our supporters and fundraisers, but also want to provide a special area to acknowledge these Top Performers for 2011!

Our Brain Tumor Walk is designed to raise critically needed awareness and funding for brain tumors.  Our National Brain Tumor Walks bring individuals, teams and communities together for a day of inspiration, fun and awareness for brain tumors.  Our Moving Towards A Cure® Brain Tumor Walks are organized by Miles for Hope staff and volunteers within the brain tumor community.

Miles for Hope, a national brain tumor charity has selected Orlando as a location for one of their national Moving Towards a Cure® events to raise brain tumor awareness and necessary funding for this deadly disease

Over 6 years ago, Bob Gibbs defied the odds statistically and 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 experimental cancer vaccine clinical trials.

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).

“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 experimental brain cancer vaccine clinical trials so that, in the future, brain cancer patients may have additional treatment options."

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 2^nd leading cause of cancer death in males under the age of 29 and the 5^th 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 to include over 10 events currently scheduled across the nation in 2011, thanks to the success of their brain tumor awareness walks.

“In order to raise awareness and to provide access to cutting edge experimental clinical trials and treatments, we continue to rely on our Moving Towards A Cure® events to provide a vehicle for communities and the nation to become involved and help fund better treatments for this deadly disease.”, stated Barb Gibbs, Executive Director.

Registration is currently open for the Orlando event which will take place at Harbor Park in Orlando on February 12, 2011.  Registered participants can select to run or walk to help raise awareness and funding for brain tumor awareness and research.  Volunteers and sponsorship opportunities are also available.  For additional information on this or other events, please contact Miles for Hope at (727) 781-HOPE (4673) or visit the website at http://MilesForHope.org

Miles for Hope, a national brain tumor charity has selected Los Angeles as a location for one of their national Moving Towards a Cure® events to raise brain tumor awareness and necessary funding for this deadly disease

Over 6 years ago, Bob Gibbs defied the odds statistically and 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 experimental cancer vaccine clinical trials.

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).

“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 experimental brain cancer vaccine clinical trials so that, in the future, brain cancer patients may have additional treatment options."

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 2^nd leading cause of cancer death in males under the age of 29 and the 5^th 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 to include over 10 events currently scheduled across the nation in 2011, thanks to the success of their brain tumor awareness walks.

“In order to raise awareness and to provide access to cutting edge experimental clinical trials and treatments, we continue to rely on our Moving Towards A Cure® events to provide a vehicle for communities and the nation to become involved and help fund better treatments for this deadly disease.”, stated Barb Gibbs, Executive Director.

Registration is currently open for the Los Angeles event which will take place at Woodley Park in Van Nuys  on March 13, 2011.  Registered participants can select to run or walk to help raise awareness and funding for brain tumor research at UCLA.  Volunteers and sponsorship opportunities are also available.  For additional information on this or other events, please contact Miles for Hope at (727) 781-HOPE (4673) or visit the website at http://MilesForHope.org