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- Posted Thursday May 15, 2014
Arizona Diamondbacks salute cancer research at TGen on May 17 during Melanoma Awareness Month at Chase Field
TGen President Dr. Jeffrey Trent, leader of international SU2C Melanoma Dream Team, will receive $25,000 from D-backs in pre-game ceremony
PHOENIX, Ariz. - May 15, 2014 - As part of
Melanoma Awareness Month, the Arizona Diamondbacks will recognize
Dr. Jeffrey Trent, President and Research Director of the Translational
Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and leader of the Stand Up
To Cancer (SU2C) Melanoma Dream Team.
Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall will salute Dr. Trent,
TGen, SU2C and the Melanoma Research Alliance in a pre-game
ceremony at Chase Field just prior to the 5:10 p.m. start of the
May 17 game between the D-backs and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hall will present Dr. Trent with a check towards TGen scientific
research in the amount of $25,000.
The Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball are significant
supporters of SU2C. TGen is the only institute to have faculty
leading two different SU2C Dream Team grants: the Pancreatic Cancer
Dream Team in 2009, and the Melanoma Dream Team in 2011.
"It is my distinct honor to recognize the incredible work being
conducted here in Arizona at TGen, and specifically recognize the
accomplishments of our native son, Dr. Jeffrey Trent," Hall said.
"We are incredibly blessed to have the highest caliber researchers
at TGen, working to unlock the secrets of melanoma, and perhaps one
day find a cure to this, the most deadly form skin cancer."
On average, 1 in 5 Americans will get some form of skin cancer. Of
those, nearly 76,000 each year are diagnosed with melanoma. Every
hour, on average, someone in the U.S. dies from this disease. The
incidence of death from melanoma has nearly doubled in recent
decades among young men, and nearly tripled among young
women.
About half of all melanomas have changes in part of the cancer DNA
called the BRAF gene, allowing the cancer cells to grow out of
control. In recent years, new drugs that target BRAF have been
shown to have significant clinical benefit for this 50 percent of
melanoma patients.
But, what about the other 50 percent of melanoma patients; those
without the BRAF mutation? The SU2C Melanoma Dream Team - in
conjunction with the Melanoma Research Alliance - is pursuing new
treatment options for this type of melanoma, which currently has
few treatment options.
"TGen is grateful to the Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball
for their ongoing support of SU2C/MRA and for bringing awareness to
melanoma research" said Dr. Trent. "Our Melanoma Dream Team is
accelerating research into how we can match the right drug to the
right patient by close examination of an individual patient's DNA.
Importantly, our FDA approved SU2C melanoma clinical trial is about
to open, proving once again that local research benefits local
patients first."
SU2C's Melanoma Dream Team is co-led by Dr. Trent and by Dr.
Patricia LoRusso of the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.
Progress can't come fast enough for patients and their families,
such as Claudia Dulude of Phoenix, who founded the Jeff Dulude
Melanoma Foundation after her husband, who passed away 21 years ago
from melanoma.
"Three weeks before my husband, Jeff Dulude, died of melanoma at
age 36, he said to me, 'Do something about this, so another family
does not go through this pain.' It took a few years after Jeff's
tragic death, but here I am with our children, Alexandra and
Richard, to get the job done," said Dulude, who now works as a
volunteer for the Melanoma Research Alliance.
"Skin cancer, and its deadliest form, melanoma, are preventable
cancers, just like smoking is to lung cancer.An hour in the
sun unprotected is like smoking a pack of cigarettes," said Dulude,
who is devoted to bringing together the efforts of more than two
dozen family foundations, many named for loved ones who succumbed
to this disease.
During May - Melanoma Awareness Month - advocates encourage
everyone to be aware of time spent in the sun, especially between
10 a.m. and 4 p.m. They urge the use of proper sunscreen,
protective clothing and hats, especially during the upcoming summer
and the increased opportunities for outdoor activities - and enjoy
the shade and maybe a baseball game in a covered stadium, such as
Chase Field.
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About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused
on helping patients with cancer, neurological disorders and
diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process
of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. For more information,
visit:www.tgen.org.
Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]
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About the Melanoma Research Alliance
The Melanoma Research Alliance is a public charity formed under
the auspices of the Milken Institute, with the generous founding
support of Debra and Leon Black. It supports an international,
cross-disciplinary group of biomedical researchers possessing
clinical and scientific expertise to explore, identify and pursue
innovative solutions to critical research questions, leading to
better treatments and a cure for melanoma patients.Since its
founding in 2007, MRA has become the largest private funder of
melanoma research. For more information about MRA's research
programs, visit www.melanomaresearchalliance.org.
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About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) - a program of the Entertainment
Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization -
raises funds to accelerate the pace of groundbreaking translational
research that will get new therapies to patients quickly. SU2C's
"Dream Team" approach to funding translational cancer research
enables scientists from different disciplines at research centers
across the country and internationally to collaborate on projects
geared toward getting new, less toxic treatments to patients as
quickly as possible. Monies also support innovative cancer research
projects that are often deemed "too risky" by conventional funding
sources.
