This bold initiative will perform whole genome sequencing on tumors from patients with the 10 most common cancers in San Antonio. The genomic data linked to patients’ clinical course, in a manner that protects confidentiality, will help the researchers better understand which genetic errors are important for prognosis, which respond to currently available therapy, and which ones may be important in the future to develop medicines needed to treat cancer effectively.

Lastly, since no single-institution or researcher has all the answers, we are going to make this data freely available worldwide via the web so that researchers far and wide can study the relationships between these genes and the clinical outcome. This will be an enormous resource for cancer doctors across the globe and will bring fresh ideas from outside the current cancer research community.

To accomplish this project we have assembled the largest team of cancer surgeons, pathologists, researchers, and oncologists with one goal in mind — accelerate cancer research through better understanding of the whole problem.

In cancer research today, we are limited by only small amounts of genetic information, which impairs our understanding of the whole disease and limits good decision-making.

Help us uncover all the genetic information through the San Antonio 1000 Cancer Genome Project, conquering cancer through complete information.

Please join us for an evening of dinner, dancing and supporting ThriveWell!! The Healing Hearts gala will be held on Saturday, February 4 at 6 p.m. at The Plaza Club downtown. During the event Dr. Francisco Cigarroa with UT Health Science Center, his wife Graciela Cigarroa who is a Thrivewell board member, and Dr. Sharon Wilks who is a local oncologist will be honored for their outstanding commitment to the health and well being of our community. Proceeds raised will benefit ThriveWell’s Patient Assistance and Research programs.

For breast cancer patients and survivors, the ThriveWell Cancer Foundation and Centro Fitness have begun offering free fitness and nutrition education classes.

Part of the DIVA program (Deriving Inspiration and Vitality through Activity), the classes area located at Centro Fitness at CentroMed Southside, 3750 Commercial Ave.

“The CentroMed Southside Clinic is located in a greatly underserved area of town for fitness options for breast cancer patients and survivors,” said Erin Ercoline, executive director of Thrivewell Cancer Foundation.

“Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the U.S. and the second leading cause of cancer death in women.”

Linda Aleman, who attends the DIVA classes at Centro Fitness, said it was great having the classes on the Southside and not having to drive to the South Texas Medical Center on the city’s Northside.

“We have fun,” Aleman said. “We benefit by having our own personalized teachers who understand our concern. I look forward to coming to class, because I know I am doing something good for myself.”

Jason Martin, a yoga instructor who has been teaching DIVA classes at Centro Fitness, said he’s received positive feedback from the community.

“The response has been great,” he said. “DIVA is the perfect program for cancer survivors. We’ve been reaching out to the community and hope to see more people out here.”

For women who have been diagnosed with cancer, there are a number of studies that confirm the link between exercise and an improved survival rate.

Historically, doctors advised cancer patients to rest and to avoid activity. But there is a growing body of research that has challenged the recommendation.

In a 2010 interview with the San Antonio Express-News, Dr. Amy Lang, an oncologist and co-founder of the DIVA program, said there are research-proven benefits of exercise for breast cancer patients: it decreases fatigue, lifts mood, reduces lymphedema (swelling in the arms after the removal of lymph nodes), improves sleep and decreases chemo-induced nausea and fatigue.

More importantly, research suggests it can reduce risk of cancer recurrence in women who have undergone appropriate treatment, Lang said.

ThriveWell’s DIVA fitness program at Centro Fitness includes aerobics, yoga and tai chi, as well as nutrition counseling.

At Centro Fitness, classes will be held every day of the week, except Tuesday and Sunday. There will be seven classes and one monthly nutrition class.

All DIVA classes are provided free of charge to breast cancer patients and survivors, Ercoline said.

Participation in the DIVA program is not determined by financial resources or status of a medical diagnosis. Nor are women required to have any affiliation with a medical practice or insurance carrier.

Aleman said she is thankful to have the classes and the support from fellow cancer survivors.

“The DIVA’S are all different, but have one common goal, to beat cancer and have a fulfilling life,” Aleman said.

The ThriveWell Cancer Foundation can be reached at 593-5949. Centro Fitness can be reached at 334-3800.

It was during a seminar on breast cancer that Dr. Amy Lang heard some startling statistics: Good nutrition, such as eating a low-fat diet, can reduce risk of breast cancer recurrence by 25 percent to 30 percent. And regular exercise can reduce it by up to 45 percent.

By comparison, an experimental cancer drug is considered promising if it lowers recurrence by 3 percent to 5 percent.

Inspired, Lang met with several people over the next few months and eventually they formed a nonprofit agency called ThriveWell Cancer Foundation. Today she still sits on the foundation’s board.

ThriveWell takes a three-pronged approach to helping people with cancer: Funding cancer research, offering free exercise and nutritional programs and, the one closest to executive director Beth Keough‘s heart, assisting cancer patients — not just those with breast cancer — as they undergo treatment.

“Too often, patients get a cancer diagnosis and they begin treatment,” she explains. “But you’d be surprised at the number of people who don’t have a network of friends and family to offer support. Then there are those without health insurance to pay for treatment. So it gets too hard, too expensive, and they simply stop going for treatments.”

ThriveWell’s role, Keough said, is to support these people emotionally, logistically and financially.

“It’s part of our name,” she says. “We want our clients to get healthy, so they can live well.”

And the agency does this at the most basic of levels, providing patients with transportation to and from their treatment appointments, either by shuttle service, giving them fuel cards or simply buying them Via bus passes.

“The American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program pays for 26 one-way trips,” Keough says. “But if you’ve got seven weeks of chemo, that’s not enough. And that’s where we step in.”

Since Jan. 1, ThriveWell has paid for 661 one-way rides for 35 patients.

The organization also helps eligible cancer patients by covering their insurance co-payment, up to $250 annually. Since May, when the program began, they’ve helped 27 women receive needed medical care.

“We’d like to help at least 60 women next year,” Keough said.

And ThriveWell continues operating its initial offering: free exercise and nutrition classes to teach cancer survivors how to take batter care of themselves to reduce risk of recurrence.

Classes are offered at three locations, and Keough says she hopes to have a fourth, preferably on the South Side, up and running sometime next year.

In 2009, its 3,100 scheduled activities helped 191 women.

Thrivewell’s lowest-key but possibly furthest-reaching effort is its direct support for cancer research. But not just any research.

“We give grants to researchers here in San Antonio who are doing unique, cutting-edge, individualized things,” Keough said. “We don’t have a lot to give — between 2009 and 2010 we awarded about $150,000, most of it coming from families in memory of loved ones they’d lost, people who don’t want others to have to go through what they did.”

Keough is the only paid employee, and with a core of about 30 volunteers, ThriveWell is still a relatively young organization, one that often can’t do all it wants.

Recently, Keough fielded a call from a woman who didn’t have the money to get a needed mammogram.

“I was like, ‘How much does a mammogram cost? I’ll write a check,’” she said.

Turns out she could get the woman the cancer screening test for about $85 from a company that had an arrangement with another local charity. And so, without having to take out her own checkbook, Keough was able to get the woman the care she needed.

How to help

ThriveWell Cancer Foundation

4383 Medical Drive, Ste. 4078, San Antonio, TX 78229

210-593-5949

www.thrivewell.org

Agency needs money to expand its efforts. Memorial donations are also accepted to support small-scale scientific research on cancer treatments.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/grace_of_giving/article/Providing-support-for-cancer-patients-875959.php#ixzz1cNpCeOFA