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Accelerated Brain Cancer Cure Foundation and Stephen M. Coffman Charitable Trust Join Miles For Hope in Funding $100,000 Grant For Brain Tumor Research
(Clearwater, FL) July 6, 2011 -- Miles For Hope announced today that it has partnered with two brain tumor organizations, Accelerated Brain Cancer Cure Foundation (ABC2) and the Stephen M. Coffman Charitable Trust, in awarding a $100,000 research grant to University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) neurosurgeon Linda Liau, M.D., PhD to begin the 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 grant is the collaboration to fund research that has the potential to improve the lives of brain cancer patients.
This is the first time these non-profit organizations have come together to jointly fund a research award. This grant combines Miles For Hope and the Stephen M. Coffman Charitable Trust’s commitment to increase awareness and funding for cutting-edge research with Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure’s dedication to advancing therapies leading to a cure for brain cancer. “We believe collaboration is a critical component to advancing a cure. We are pleased to partner with Miles For Hope to fund Dr. Liau’s research. Together, our funding allows this trial to move forward, “said Max Wallace, CEO of ABC2.
According to Robert (Bob) Gibbs, Miles For Hope co-founder and a seven-year brain cancer survivor, conventional treatments over the last two decades have only been able to extend the median survival rate by approximately two weeks. “For that reason, we felt compelled to increase awareness and raise funds for experimental brain cancer vaccine clinical trials so that, in the future, brain cancer patients may have additional treatment options.
Gibbs, married and father of four, was diagnosed in 2004 with brain cancer at the age of 34. He and his wife, Barb, researched possible treatment options and found an experimental brain cancer vaccine. However, Gibbs did not qualify for the vaccine at UCLA until 2008 after his second brain surgery when it was discovered the brain cancer reached a Stage III.
“Bob is a fighter,” said Linda Liau, M.D., PhD, UCLA professor of neurosurgery, who developed a dendritic cell vaccine that is personalized for each individual based on the patient's tumor. “I am grateful to Bob and Barb Gibbs for this gift, and thank them for their tireless efforts to defeat this terrible disease.”
Brain tumors affect over 200,000 people each year; one person every three minutes in the United States. They are also the leading cause of solid tumor cancer deaths in children under the age of 20. It is estimated that over 600,000 people are battling a brain tumor in the United States. In addition, brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer death in males under the age of 29 and ranked fifth as the cause of cancer death in female adults age 20-39.
Gibbs has become an expert on current immunotherapies and treatment options for brain cancer because of his personal experience with the disease. Gibbs is available for interviews to discuss these points and other topic-related developments.
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