Sarcoma Community Updates in ESUN

New ESUN Guides Available

The ESUN Sarcoma Guides provide comprehensive information about the diagnosis and treatment of sarcomas. They have been reviewed by sarcoma experts and published as eBooks for easy access on-the-go. The books can be saved and printed for individual use.

The ESUN Guide for the Newly Diagnosed is a special collection of empowering articles for everyone dealing with sarcoma, especially those who are new to the disease. A special version of the guide can be saved for use on the Kindle and other eBook readers. There are 18 additional ESUN Guides about specific subtypes of sarcoma:

About the ESUN Guides
The Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative publishes accurate and timely information about sarcomas in ESUN, its online, peer-reviewed newsletter. The Initiative also funds cutting-edge sarcoma research in a number of countries. Learn more by viewing A Brief Guide to the Initiative.

Guide for Patients with Advanced Cancer

In a partnering of oncologists, patients and patient advocacy groups, the European Society for Medical Oncology European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has produced a booklet called: A guide for patients with advanced cancer, how to get the most out of your oncologist. The booklet is designed to help patients with advanced cancer and their treating oncologists.

For patients and their family members, it provides practical advice regarding cancer care, communicating with oncologists, important questions to ask, getting information and the challenges of living with an advanced cancer.

For practicing oncologists, the guide will serve as a tool to help focus important discussions with their patients and to assist in addressing the many issues their patients are confronting.

Patient Advocate Foundation

Founded in April, 1996, Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) with national headquarters in Hampton Roads, Virginia is a national non-profit, 501(c)3 direct patient services organization with a mission “to safeguard patients through effective mediation assuring access to care, maintenance of employment and preservation of their financial stability.” PAF’s professional case managers are specialized in the areas of oncology nursing, coding and billing, pre-authorization approvals, expedited appeals, expedited application for federal /state income and disability programs, and debt crisis resolutions. They serve as an active liaison between patients and their insurer, employer and/or creditors to resolve insurance, job retention, and/or debt crisis matters relative to their diagnosis of a chronic, life threatening or debilitating disease.

PAF has assisted over 600,000 patients in 50 states since 1996. In 2010, PAF served 82,963 patients, a 49.8% increase over 2009, negotiated over $22.6 million in debt relief and made 934,232 contacts on behalf of patients to relevant stakeholders to bring resolution to healthcare access issues, a 36% increase over 2009. More than one-third (36.91%) of the patients served in 2010 had commercial insurance with 25.44% having Medicare, 9.19% having Medicaid and 0.74% having military benefits. The uninsured population represented 27.71%. Almost 70% of our patients were Caucasian, 16.91% were African American, 9.88% were Hispanic/Latino and the remaining 3.21% were other ethnicities. Sixty-nine percent of patient referrals were from healthcare providers or national non-profit advocacy groups. PAF participated in over 630 state and national outreach and educational events. Seventy-one percent of the patients served by PAF had a cancer diagnosis while the remaining patient’s were diagnosed with one of 278 other chronic and/or debilitating health conditions.

Direct Patient Services are provided to patients nationwide at no cost. PAF case managers are specialized in the areas of oncology nursing, coding and billing, pre-authorization approvals, expedited appeals, expedited application for federal and state assistance, and disability: They resolve debt crisis related to diagnosis; mediate insurance appeals; negotiate access to pharmaceuticals agents, chemotherapy, medical devices and surgical procedures; broker resources to supplement the limits of insurance and to assure access to care for the insured, uninsured and underinsured. Case management services are provided through 20 distinct programs. PAF has formal partnerships with the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Leukemia Lymphoma Society to provide services to their patients.

PAF completed its 15th year of operations on June 30, 2011 with revenues in excess of $42M, a 19% growth in revenues from the prior FY. Expenses were in excess of $41M, a 13% increase from the prior FY. Charity Navigator awarded a 4-star rating to PAF for sound fiscal management and the Internal Revenue service has awarded PAF with a lifetime 501(c)3 designation. The 2011 Worth Magazine (Volume 19/Issue 6) has cited PAF as the Number 2 charity in their list of the “Ten Most Fiscally Responsible Charities” in the nation.

In addition to the services provided through its Direct Patient Services, PAF has 21 unique programs including our Co-Pay Relief (CPR), A Patient Assistance Program. Our CPR program was established in 2004 and has assisted over 50,000 patients, providing over $130 million in cash co-payment assistance to patients who are insured and qualify medically and financially. CPR assists patients who being treated for a variety of diseases, including sarcoma. PAF encourages patients to apply for assistance if they are facing one of the illnesses that the program covers, and are having difficulties paying for their treatment co-pays. A patient should apply if he/she is:

Forgoing treatment because of an inability to pay his/her copayment and/or coinsurance costs
Has a qualifying diagnosis
Has income 500% or less of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)
Has insurance coverage that covers prescription drugs

CPR has four points of entry that can be used to access the program that include:

Patient Portal: This portal is designed specifically for patients or caregivers who prefer an online process, minimizing enrollment time as well as offering real-time information on the availability of assistance in each disease category. The program accepts new and renewal applications electronically through a dedicated, secured web based patient portal, available 24 hours. Registration is required prior to submitting applications.

Provider Portal: This portal is designed specifically for providers allowing them to enroll on behalf of their patients, minimizing enrollment time as well as offering real-time information on the availability of assistance in each disease category. The program accepts new and renewal applications electronically through a dedicated, secured web based provider portal, available 24 hours. Registration is required prior to submitting applications.

Pharmacy Portal: This portal is designed specifically for pharmacies allowing them to enroll on behalf of their patients, minimizing enrollment time as well as offering real-time information on the availability of assistance in each disease category. The program accepts new and renewal applications electronically through a dedicated, secured web based provider portal, available 24 hours. Registration is required prior to submitting applications.

Phone: The program offers personal service to all patients, caregivers or providers through the use of live CPR call counselors; personally guiding the caller through the enrollment process. Contact CPR toll-free at 1-866-512-3861 to initiate an application for assistance or go to the website for additional information about the program and applications (www.copays.org).

EveryLife Art Contest

Calling all artists, kids, parents, friends & family! Share your art that captures the beauty, power, love, pain and courage of the rare disease community.

Prizes: Each Grand Prize winner will receive an iPod Touch and two Grand Prizes will be awarded in each age group :

Children 5-11: $100 Visa Gift Card
Teens 12-17: $250 Visa Gift Card
Adults 18+: $500 Visa Gift Card

Winners can use the i Pod touch to record a video and share their story about being an artist affected by a rare disease. The artists’ video stories will be posted on RareArtist.org.

See Contest Rules. Entries must be received by 5 pm PST on Tuesday, January 31, 2012.

European Conference to Give Sarcoma Advocates an Opportunity to Share and Network

The 2nd SPAEN Annual Conference aims to provide Sarcoma, GIST and Desmoid Patient Advocates from across Europe an opportunity to share experiences and achievements with each other, as well as to discuss advances and challenges in the treatment of Sarcomas. Leading European Sarcoma Experts will join us to give the presentations, answer our questions and be available for discussions. The Conference will also give Patient Advocates the opportunity to share best practice examples and to network across borders.

Editor's Note: An article describing the International Efforts of the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative is featured on the SPAEN website.

PatientView – A Potential Resource for Sarcoma Advocacy Groups

PatientView is an independent, global, research-and-publishing organization that works closely with patients and health and social campaigning groups worldwide. PatientView surveys the opinions of patients and health advocacy groups on healthcare delivery and disease-based issues worldwide, analyses trends, and places many of the resulting reports into the public domain (thereby benefiting patients, citizens, and health advocacy groups, as well as other healthcare stakeholders).

For Sarcoma Patients, Survivors and Caregivers who Write Poetry

The Cancer Poetry Project announces new call for poetry. The Cancer Poetry Project is accepting cancer-related poems for the second volume of its award-winning national anthology. Approximately 150 poems will be selected for the new book. Of those selected, a dozen winning poets will each receive both a cash prize and an invitation to select a cancer organization to which the Cancer Poetry Project will make a donation. Poems will be accepted through December 31, 2011, and Submission Guidelines are available online.

Sarcoma Patient Notebooks

The Karen Wyckoff Rein in Sarcoma Foundation has released the third edition of its “Sarcoma Patient Starter Notebook” for newly diagnosed sarcoma patients. The Amschwand Sarcoma Cancer Foundation also publishes a "Sarcoma Survivor Starter Notebook" for the newly diagnosed.

Help for Those seeking Pediatric Proton Therapy

Many treatment protocols for pediatric sarcomas include a significant phase of radiation treatment. There are advantages of proton therapy for pediatric patients as compared to traditional radiation or even Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). Children’s bodies are still growing and developing making children more susceptible to radiation-induced damage to healthy tissues and organs. Protons are physically superior to traditional radiation and can offer the pediatric patient greater accuracy in targeting the tumor – within 1 millimeter. Protons have no exit dose as their depth is controlled.

Recent studies have shown excellent results with protons in controlling aggressive tumors such as sarcomas, and also reducing damage to healthy tissues. With less radiation to the child’s body, protons lower the risk for developing secondary tumors later in life. There are also fewer side effects from this type of treatment as most children are simultaneously undergoing chemotherapy.

Part of the reason so few sarcoma pediatric patients receive proton therapy is the lack of knowledge and information. The Pediatric Proton Foundation is designed to help families, at any stage of treatment, make those quick unexpected decisions of what to do when faced with childhood cancer. Susan Ralston, Executive Director of the Foundation, said, “We help families gain access to protons.” We encourage you to contact her for information about the Foundation’s services.

Roger Wilson Honoured with a CBE and an Honorary MD in the UK

Roger Wilson, President of Sarcoma Patients EuroNet and founder of Sarcoma UK, has received two honours this year.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in January and was invested by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on June 28th. The honour is to recognise “services to healthcare” and specifically Roger’s many years of work as a patient representative in cancer research, and as founder of Sarcoma UK, now a national charity in the UK.

On July 18th the University of Sheffield awarded Roger the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine (the MD degree in the UK is a research degree). The award recognised his work supporting research into sarcoma and raising awareness of the disease through his various activities in the UK. Sheffield is home to one of the UK’s top sarcoma specialist treatment centres and has one of the larger sarcoma research programmes.

“I am surprised and delighted to be awarded such recognition,” said Roger. “Most important is that these honours help raise awareness of sarcoma and draw attention to the work so many people are doing to support and help patients.”

UK Sarcoma Organizations Join Forces

In March 2011, the Sarcoma Trust and Sarcoma UK officially joined together to become a new single charity for sarcoma patients, carers, and relatives in the UK, carrying the Sarcoma UK name.

Sarcoma UK originated as a company in 2003 formed by Roger and Sheelagh Wilson to provide information and support for patients with these rare cancers. Roger, who was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma in 1999 explained “Even after two years I had never knowingly met another patient so when we started to offer information and develop new lines of contact for others it was also support for us.”

By 2007 Sarcoma UK had contact with over 600 other patients and was working with national organisations such as NICE, the National Cancer Action Team, Macmillan Cancer Support and the National Cancer Research Institute. Sarcoma UK was also attracting donors wishing to support research into these rare cancers. With other patients and carers met through Sarcoma UK’s work, the Sarcoma Trust was founded as a registered charity to handle donations and fund research.

By April 2010, as a result of increased financial support, a new business plan for the Sarcoma Trust had been developed and a professional team put in place. The implementation of the first stage of the business plan – consolidation of the two organisations – started and was achieved by the following March.

Sarcoma UK’s chief executive, Lindsey Bennister said: “It’s a very positive change that will put us in a strong position to build on the fantastic work already carried out by the Sarcoma Trust and Sarcoma UK over the last few years but from a new consolidated base of one single organisation.” Sarcoma UK aims to achieve the best possible standard of treatment and care for sarcoma patients and their relatives in the UK through:

Funding scientific and medical research into causes and treatments;
Delivering support and information services
Raising awareness of sarcoma amongst the public, healthcare professionals and policy makers;
Campaigning on behalf of sarcoma patients for improved treatment and care.

The Board of Trustees continue to provide a strong patient focus. Roger Wilson is Sarcoma UK’s Honorary President, and Professor Ian Judson from the Royal Marsden Hospital is Sarcoma UK’s Scientific/Medical Advisor. Some of the exciting new developments planned include:

Production of a new range of patient information about sarcoma.
Launch of a new website.
Launch of a new call for research proposals to the sarcoma scientific and medical community, administered through a new grants management system, a Research Advisory Group, and a new Research Strategy.
Development of Sarcoma UK’s support services for people with sarcoma, and their carers and relatives, through both online and local support groups and networks.
Development of closer links with healthcare professionals in the sarcoma field.
Representation of the views and experiences of all sarcoma patients to government, health policy makers and cancer services decision makers, through patient and professional representation on key groups and public bodies.
Development of a panel/group of individuals affected by sarcoma to act as ‘expert’ patients, in order to have greater representation of sarcoma patients at local and national level.

For more information, contact Lindsey Bennister.

SPAEN Newsletter

The May 2011 SPAEN Newsletter includes medical updates from GIST and Sarcomas, as well as a report from the 9th New Horizons in Treating Cancer Conference and information about the Chordoma Foundation outreach to Europe to support Chordoma patients.

GiftToCure Financial Support for DSRCT and Ewing’s Sarcoma Patients

GiftToCure is a 501c (3) nonprofit organization that is working hard to make it easy for families impacted by Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor (DSRCT) and Ewing’s Sarcoma to get financial assistance. The application process is simple and complies with government rules. GiftToCure provides financial support in a few different and flexible ways. Whatever it is that our DSRCT and Ewing’s sarcoma patients and families need, they will seriously consider paying the bill for you: the monthly mortgage and rent payments, telephone and utility bills, the college books needed by the siblings, the gas card and the car repair to help with all the trips to the hospital and back, medical costs not covered by Health Insurance, any other very necessary item. Since July 2010, their Financial Assistance program has helped families in the USA and UK. Awards are provided upon proof of hardship. If approved, any and all awards are paid directly to service providers. Awardees receive an email notification of what bills were chosen for payment and the amounts. If you are interested in this program please visit the GiftToCure website.

SPAEN

The Sarcoma Patients EuroNet Association (SPAEN), the European Network of Sarcoma, GIST and Desmoid Patient Advocacy Groups, was founded in April 2009 with the aim of extending information services, patient support and advocacy to patient organizations for the benefit of sarcoma patients across the whole of Europe. Acting in partnership with clinical experts, scientific researchers, industry and other stakeholders, SPAEN is working to improve the treatment and care of sarcoma patients in Europe through improving information and support, and by increasing the visibility of sarcoma with policymakers and the public. Visit the SPAEN website to learn more about this organization and the services it offers.

Pharmaceutical Data and Clinical Trial Information available to Sarcoma Patients and Caregivers in Multiple Languages

The European Union Drug Regulating Authorities Pharmaceutical Database, EudraPharm, is a public database that contains information on medicines authorized by the European Union (EU). EudraPharm is intended to be a source of information on all medicinal products for human or veterinary use that have been authorized in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). EudraPharm is available in the following languages: Bulgarian, Spanish, Czech, Danish, German, Estonian, Greek, English, French, Icelandic, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Maltese, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Finnish, and Swedish. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Commission recently announced the launch of the European Union Clinical Trials Register, EU-CTR. The register contains information about clinical trials conducted by industry and research institutions, whether they take place in one member state or several. The information is made public once the clinical trial has been authorized. The register allows public access to information on interventional trials for medicines authorized in the 27 EU Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The aim of this official public register is to make clinical research on pharmaceuticals more transparent for patients and others and to avoid unnecessary duplication of clinical trials. The register also includes the clinical trials contained in Pediatric Investigation Plans - the research and development program that generates data required to authorize a medicinal product for use in children. These clinical trials are published even if they are performed outside the EU. The register is part of the EudraPharm.

New opportunity to participate in genetic research for chordoma

by Josh Sommer of the Chordoma Foundation

Since 1996 researchers at the Genetic Epidemiology Branch (GEB) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have been studying families with multiple members affected by chordoma in order to identify genes responsible or causing chordoma. Last year researchers at GEB and Duke University discovered that chordoma in four families was caused by one extra inherited copy of a gene called brachyury. However, several additional families in the NCI study had no abnormalities in the brachyury gene, suggesting that additional genes could be responsible for causing familial chordoma.

GEB researchers are looking for more chordoma families to participate in research on familial chordoma. The goal of the research is to identify other genes that increase the risk of family members developing chordoma. GEB researchers are also looking for people who are the ONLY person in their family who has ever been diagnosed with chordoma to participate in research on sporadic chordoma (also called non-familial chordoma). One goal of this research is to find out whether genes for “familial chordoma” play a role in causing chordoma to develop in people without a family history of this cancer. To answer this question, GEB has opened a new study for sporadic chordoma patients, which aims to recruit at least 100 participants.

Patients with familial chordoma, or sporadic (non-familial) chordoma, or close relatives who wish to inquire about participating in this study should contact Ms. Stephanie Steinbart at 1-800-518-8474. More information is also available on the GEB chordoma research webpage.

Synovial Sarcoma Survivors

by Sarah Ann Cuy

I am one of the moderators of an online patient community that provides support for people living with synovial sarcoma, as well as survivors and families affected by synovial sarcoma. Being a patient of a serious disease is difficult enough; being a patient of a rare disease adds loneliness to the situation. These patients desperately need to connect with others like them, and that's where our patient community comes in. Members of our patient community provide support to each other during the most difficult of times. Our community has helped many members connect, but since there are millions more to reach around the world, we need your help to spread the word. How can you help these patients in need?

The International Sarcoma Symposium

The Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative was pleased to participate in the International Sarcoma Symposium held on February 4, 2011, in Oslo, Norway. Dr. Ola Myklebost and Bruce Shriver gave the opening remarks, which can be viewed online (the video takes a moment to load). Presentations by physicians and researchers are also available online.

October 2010

An Update from the QuadW Foundation

In 2006, the WWWW Foundation, Inc. (QuadW) was created when we lost our son, brother and dear friend, Willie Tichenor, to osteosarcoma. Our board is comprised of Willie’s parents, brother, seven of his closest friends and one of his doctors

Our largest grant ($643,000) has been in partnership with CureSearch, the foundation affiliate of the Children’s Oncology Group, to create the QuadW Osteosarcoma Bisostatistics and Annotation Office (QuadW OBAO). This project provides infrastructure for the collection and storage of osteosarcoma patient samples by providing personnel support and resources devoted to sample annotation, patient follow-up, and biostatistics.

Dr. Chand Khanna, National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research Senior Scientist and QuadW OBAO project manager, noted, “Most noteworthy of the ongoing accomplishments of the QuadW OBAO was the recent announcement at the Children’s Oncology Group Fall 2010 Meeting, that the clinical annotation of the osteosarcoma biospecimen repository had been taken from less than 5% complete to over 90% complete. This accomplishment has markedly enhanced the value of the biospecimen repository. The immediate impact includes the opportunity to complete pending statistical analysis for 14 osteosarcoma biology studies that have in some cases were halted over 5 years ago due to insufficient clinical annotation of the banked materials."

“A second and similarly important advance supported by the QuadW OBAO has been the restructuring of the previously antiquated, inefficient, and slow process of requesting tissues from the osteosarcoma biospecimen repository. On April 27, 2009 the QuadW OBAO in collaboration with the intramural NCI’s Center for Cancer Research released a web-based solution. Through this web-enabled portal, investigators interested in the study of osteosarcoma have been able to request samples in support of hypothesis driven research in studies. This system provides efficient review of requests, statistical analysis for feasibility, and reporting of results to investigators.”

Left: QuadW board members visiting with COG chair Dr. Greg Reamon and chair-elect.
Right: Dr. Peter Adamson at the September COG meeting.

We at QuadW are very hopeful that efforts of all those associated with the QuadW Osteosarcoma Bisostatistics and Annotation Office will translate into a better understanding of osteosarcoma, resulting in more therapeutic options and improved outcomes for patients. We also look forward to extending this model to other sarcoma disease groups that would benefit from this type of support.

August 2010

GIST Summit to be Held

GIST Support International, in collaboration with Dr. Jon Trent, would like to extend an open invitation to the 2nd GIST Summit at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to be held on September 25th. It will be a full day, beginning at 8:00am with a GIST 101 pre-session. Talks on all aspects of GIST treatment and disease management follow throughout the day, until the final talk about future treatment directions which ends at 5:00pm.

The summit will build on last year's success, when there were more than 100 participants from all over the United States. Everyone with an interest in GIST is welcome to come. Lunch and refreshments will be provided, and there is no charge to attend. For more information and to pre-register, see the GIST Summit web page, or contact Barbara.

April 2010

The Team Sarcoma Everyday Heroes Competition

Everyone who has dealt with sarcoma knows a hero or two. Heroes support, encourage and inspire us in extraordinary ways. Just when we need them most, they are there. They challenge us, comfort us, and give us hope.

The Team Sarcoma Everyday Heroes competition invites you to tell us about your hero. Entries will be published at the Team Sarcoma website, and three winning submissions will be chosen. A donation will be made to sarcoma research in honor of each winner's hero, and each winner will choose which type of research their prize will fund.

Please spread the word about this competition within the sarcoma community. The deadline for submissions is June 1, and everyone who has been touched by sarcoma is invited to participate.

The Wendy Walk

The Wendy Walk to fund sarcoma research will be held in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami on April 18, 2010. The walks were created and organized by Ali, Matt and Jackie Landes, to support their mom who has liposarcoma. She is currently undergoing treatment as part of a clinical trial.

December 2009

New Book to Benefit the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative

by Mary Sorens

Scott Alcott, a Ewing's sarcoma survivor, published I'm Not Lance! this month. In a surprising announcement, he pledged to donate all of the book's proceeds to the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative. When we heard this exciting news, we set out to learn more about Scott's journey and his new book.

At the age of 40, Scott was diagnosed with an unusual case of Ewing's sarcoma. He explained: "Ewing's normally hits younger people of course, but mine was strange for 3 other reasons: there was no bone involvement (soft tissue only); the tumor was in the deep tissue of my face (head and neck Ewing's is rare); and the tumor had none of the known gene translocations."

Mary: Why did you write I'm Not Lance! ?
Scott: "People kept sending me Lance Armstrong's book for inspiration, and I found it hard to relate to. Lance's endurance, discipline, and competitive spirit is legendary and hard to emulate; I wanted to write a book for regular people."

Mary: So...is this a book about your cancer journey?
Scott: "I'm Not Lance! is not an autobiography. It has many moments of controversy and sometimes blunt assessments. I've dared to say what patients, supporters, and doctors actually think, with an eye on raising understanding and better dynamics between these wonderful and caring people."

Mary: What do you hope readers will gain from the book?
Scott: "I hope this book can make others feel better understood, supported and tooled for the fight. I'm Not Lance! is for patients and their supporters; it gives a tour of the practical, social, and psychological challenges facing all members in our community and tips for how to manage those challenges."

Mary: Why did you choose to give the book's proceeds to the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative?
Scott: "When I was scared, overwhelmed and confused, I found an amazing group of people supporting each other at the e-sarc Yahoo user group. Bruce Shriver, Mimi Olsson, and scores of others welcomed me in and helped me until I was able to begin helping others. Liddy and her family seem to infect others with positive values and that impressed me."

Scott Alcott's book, I'm Not Lance!, is available in paperback and digital download and will soon be listed on Amazon.com.

"Team Bob" Competes in the Inaugural Las Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon

The "Team Bob" challenge effort, took place on Sunday, Dec 6th. Seven people raced in the Inaugural Las Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon (13.1 miles). The race course was done up in grand Vegas style. There were running "Elvi", fireworks, run through weddings, skydivers... even caged white Bengal tigers at the start line.

Team Bob wore Team Sarcoma shirts and "Sarcoma Knows No Borders" wristbands all over town. During the race, a team member was approached by a girl named Kim. Her 29 year old boyfriend was recently diagnosed with a sarcoma in his foot. She tearfully confided their devastation and bewilderment as to what to do next. She was thrilled to find someone else who had heard of sarcoma.

The Team had a terrific experience to aid a deserving charity.

Team Bob: Shelly Salzman, Julie Smith, Cathy Conger, Kristen Weiss, Gabby Kudron, Lori Baitx and Kathy Reddel. They all ROCKED!

Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative

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