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FEATURED
ARTICLE
Hyundai Hope on
Wheels
The 2008 Light The
Night Walk is gearing up with support from
the Hyundai Hope on Wheels
program. READ
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FUNDRAISING
UPDATES
2008 Leukemia Ball
Raises $3.2 Million for
Mission
This year's Leukemia
Ball in Washington, DC was a glittering success,
raising more than $3.2 million for the mission
of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).
READ
MORE
Schwinn Partners with
LLS
READ
MORE
Four Companies Join
TNT Family
READ
MORE
Farmland Dairy Teams
Up with LLS
READ
MORE
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PATIENT
SERVICES
Upcoming
Teleconferences. READ
MORE
RESEARCHER
Q&A
eNewsline Introduces the Work of
Xiao-Feng Yang, M.D., Ph.D.
READ MORE
ADVOCACY
Mission Day Attracts
Advocates for Enhanced Federal Support of Cancer
Programs. READ MORE
RESEARCH
LLS Funds Potential
New Leukemia Therapy. READ
MORE
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Light The Night Walk Finds Hope on
Wheels
The 2008 Light The Night® Walk is
gearing up with support from the Hyundai
Hope on WheelsTM program. The program
will provide grass-roots Hyundai dealer
involvement and a significant financial gift to
LLS's Pediatric Cancer Research Portfolio.
Thanks to Hope on Wheels, a Hyundai Santa Fe
SUV will be appearing at select Light The Night
Walk sites around the country this fall. Special
"hand print ceremonies" will take place in which
young blood cancer patients can leave their
handprints on the vehicle. Local Hyundai dealers
will be involved in helping with Friends &
Family Team kickoffs in certain locations and
providing other on-site support.
"We're excited to have Hyundai Hope on Wheels
on board," said Nancy Klein, LLS's chief
marketing and revenue officer. "The company
recognizes the importance of Light The Night in
generating awareness and support for blood
cancer research and patient programs. Hyundai is
a company that cares."
In 1998, Hyundai dealers and Hyundai Motor
America created Hope on Wheels to tie their
passion for helping kids fight cancer with their
desire to give back to the communities in which
they live and work. Hope on Wheels has
donated more than $10 million to support
pediatric cancer research; their message went
mobile in 2004, with a Hyundai SUV serving as a
tangible, traveling symbol of hope on a journey
across the country with the mission of Helping
Kids Fight Cancer.
In return for Hyundai's support, LLS will
recognize the automaker as a national supporting
sponsor and the official vehicle of the 2008
Light The Night Walk, Klein added.
For more information about Hope on Wheels,
please visit www.hopeonwheels.com.
It's not too late to get involved in this year's
Light The Night. Find out more at www.lightthenight.org.
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2008
Leukemia Ball Raises $3.2 Million for
Mission
This year's Leukemia Ball
in Washington, DC was a glittering success,
raising more than $3.2 million for LLS's
mission. The annual black-tie event took place
Saturday, March 29, at the Washington Convention
Center.
Hosted by the National Capital
Area Chapter, the Ball has been DC's largest
non-political fundraiser since 1988, said Donna
McKelvey, chapter executive director. More than
2,500 guests, representing more than 225
companies, attended the 2008 event; since its
inception, the Ball has raised over $33 million
for blood cancer research and patient services
programs.
"The Leukemia Ball is a hugely
popular event locally, one that combines great
fun, food and entertainment with a great cause,"
McKelvey said.
This year, guests enjoyed
Tonight
Show host Jay Leno and the band Southside
Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. Past entertainers
have included Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles,
Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby and Hootie & the
Blowfish. A Mercedes-Benz raffle and a silent
auction with high-end items have become integral
parts of the evening's festivities.
For
more information about the 2009 Leukemia Ball,
please contact the National Capital Area Chapter
at (703) 960-1100 or visit www.LLS.org, "National
Capital Area Chapter."
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Schwinn Partners with
LLS
 Schwinn Bicycles, the most recognized
brand of bikes in the United States, has joined
LLS as the exclusive bicycle sponsor of Team In
Training® (TNT).
The
Wisconsin-based company will provide expert
cycling information for TNT participants, as
well as product discounts and on-site support at
cycling and triathlon events. In addition,
Schwinn will develop a special bike frame for
TNT participants. For more information about
Schwinn, please visit www.schwinn.com.
"We
are thrilled to have Schwinn's support because
it's a brand that people already know and
trust," said Nancy Klein, chief marketing and
revenue officer, LLS. "Their involvement comes
at a time when TNT has expanded beyond marathons
into a multi-sport program with such challenges
as triathlons and 100-mile century bike
rides."
Part of the relationship will
include closer ties to North Carolina-based
Performance Bicycles, the nation's largest
bicycle mail-order and retail company and the
biggest retailer of Schwinn products.
Performance will give TNT exposure at
Performance stories and online. For more
information about Performance Bicycles, please
visit www.performancebikes.com.
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 Four Companies Join
TNT Family
LLS is proud
of its partnerships with leading companies to
support and promote our various programs. Recent
additions to the TNT family include:
- ChampionChip
(www.championchip.com), the largest
race-timing company in the United States. The
company sells special chips that go on running
shoes and keep track of an athlete's start and
finish times. ChampionChip will sell chips with
two different TNT logos.
- Fuel Belt (www.fuelbelt.com), a
manufacturer of hydration belts for athletes.
The company will provide its belts, which
carry water bottles and energy bars, to TNT
participants.
- Road Runner Sports
(www.roadrunnersports.com), the largest
online retailer of athletic footwear.
The company will promote TNT on its Web
site.
- Saris Cycling Group
(www.saris.com), a leading
manufacturer of bike racks for cars. Saris will
market a special version of its popular Bones 3
rack in TNT purple. The product will be
available in bike stores around the
country.
To learn more
about business partnership opportunities with
LLS, please contact Andy Phillips, national
director, Partnership Marketing, at (914)
821-8928 or andy.phillips@lls.org.
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Farmland Dairy Teams
Up with LLS
 Farmland Dairies, makers of the
nationally recognized Special
RequestTM Skim Plus® line
of fortified dairy products, has partnered with
LLS to increase public awareness of blood
cancers.
The eight-week campaign kicked
off on April 1 and included a side-panel
advertisement for LLS on half-gallon containers
of Skim Plus.
"Farmland Dairies is
committed to helping LLS raise public awareness
of these terrible diseases, which impact
thousands of people nationally," said company
CEO Martin Margherio. "We applaud LLS for their
tireless efforts."
For more information,
visit www.farmlanddairies.com.
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 May
Teleconferences
(all events are free
and open to the public)
What: Progress in NHL
Treatment: An Overview for the Newly
Diagnosed
When: 12 p.m. -
1:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday, May 20
Who: Guest
speaker John W. Sweetenham, M.D., director,
Clinical Research, Taussig Cancer Institute,
Cleveland Clinic
Register
online
What: Childhood Cancer
Survivorship: the Family's Journey
Forward
When: Thursday,
May 29, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Who: Nancy
Cincotta, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., A.C.S.W., B.C.D.,
psychosocial director, Camp Sunshine, Casco,
ME
Register
online
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 Xiao-Feng Yang, M.D.,
Ph.D.
Xiao-Feng Yang, M.D., Ph.D.,
associate professor of pharmacology, Temple
University School of Medicine, was a recent LLS
Translational
Research Program grant recipient. He
specializes in immunotherapies.
Dr. Yang, what are you
trying to accomplish with your research?
Our immune systems are made up of various
cells that are designed to fight infections.
They do this by recognizing molecules on
abnormal cells called antigens. We are trying to
find such antigens in cancer cells that will
enable us to develop anti-cancer immunity in
much the same way vaccines have been developed
over the years to fight measles, polio and other
infectious diseases. These so-called
"immunotherapies" promise effective anti-cancer
activities with fewer side-effects than the
radiation and chemotherapies that we use
today.
What's novel or
innovative about your approach?
Especially good progress is being made in
developing immunotherapies for blood cancer
patients, and these clinical advances are likely
to help other cancer patients as well. I am
studying a blood cell malignancy called
polycythemia vera (PV), which belongs to a group
of blood cancers that also includes chronic
leukemia. Unfortunately, only about half of PV
patients are provided remissions by a standard
PV treatment called interferon. Using
state-of-the-art methods to discover which
antigens are most receptive to interferon, we
found that an antigen made by human sperm cells
appears to stimulate immune cells that have the
capacity to kill tumor cells.
How will your work one
day help patients?
Because sperm cells
are relatively protected from immune responses,
these treatments are likely to be safe with few,
if any, side-effects. And because testis
antigens are found in so many different cancers,
our findings are likely to help patients with a
wide range of cancers.
Are you close to
clinical trials?
Yes, we are eager to
continue this work to confirm that these new
tumor antigens are really tumor-rejection
antigens.
What are some of your
hobbies and non-research interests?
I
love sports, watching movies and playing Sudoku
word games.
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 Mission
Day Attracts Advocates for Enhanced Federal
Support of Cancer Programs
Cancer
advocates took their fight for improved access
to care to the nation's capital during LLS's
annual Mission Day on April 8. Nearly 300 LLS
advocates, staff and volunteers urged their
members of Congress to support and fund blood
cancer research and increase access to
lifesaving clinical trials.
"The voices
of our advocacy volunteers throughout the
country are the impetus for legislation to fund
blood cancer research and education programs,"
said George Dahlman, senior vice president, LLS
Office of Public Policy. "While we have made
tremendous progress in the battle against blood
cancers, we must continue to work toward finding
cures."
LLS advocates urged their
representatives to act on a number of fronts,
including:
- Increase
Access to Clinical Trials
Clinical
trials are the roadmap to cures for blood
cancers. However, insurance companies
often deny access to clinical trials by refusing
to cover "routine care costs" - costs that would
be covered in standard therapy. Routine care
costs can include blood tests, doctor visits and
radiological services. This barrier to access is
one of many reasons that only 3 to
5 percent of adult cancer patients enroll
in clinical trials.
- Increased
Funding for the National Institutes of Health
and National Cancer Institute
Reductions in funding for these
agencies have seriously jeopardized recent
cancer research gains. LLS urges the Bush
administration and Congress to provide increased
funding immediately.
- Support
Blood Cancer Research at the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD)
Until 2007, Congress
provided $30 million in DoD funding for chronic
myelogenous leukemia research. LLS is calling
for a dedicated blood cancer research program as
part of the DoD research portfolio, funded at
$10 million next fiscal year.
To learn how you can advocate
for patients and their families, visit www.lls.org/advocacy.
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 LLS Funds
Potential New Leukemia
Therapy
LLS's innovative Therapy Acceleration
Program (TAP) will help fund the
development of a unique fusion toxin protein for
the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia
(AML). The partnership between LLS and
Anjin Group, a Maryland-based biotech firm, is
the first drug development alliance announced
under TAP, a program
intended to advance therapies with high
prospects of providing near-term benefit to
patients suffering from blood cancers.
According to Louis J. DeGennaro, Ph.D.,
LLS's chief scientific officer, LLS will provide
$2.9 million in milestone funding for the
research, which is based on the fusion of a
modified form of diphtheria toxin to proteins
capable of selectively targeting cancerous and
diseased cells.
"Our partnership with
Anjin Group is the result of a detailed,
year-long selection process," Dr. DeGennaro
said. "Their work is highly promising, and as a
results-oriented, patient-focused company with a
genuine interest in blood cancers, they align
very well with TAP's
goals."
TAP was
launched last year to help push new therapies
through the lengthy drug development and
approval process. TAP enables LLS to
help cutting-edge biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies accelerate the
development of promising therapies that may be
sitting dormant on company shelves for lack of
funds.
New therapies are needed for
diseases such as AML, a particularly deadly form
of leukemia that strikes more than 13,400
Americans annually. For more information about
AML, please click here.
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eNEWSLINE is
published by The Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society®
Home Office • 1311 Mamaroneck Avenue
• White Plains, NY
10605
914.949.5213 • www.LLS.org
© 2008 The Leukemia
& Lymphoma Society
All Rights
Reserved
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| Participating member of An Alliance of
America's Premier Health Charities in the
Combined Federal Campaign, the National
Coalition for Cancer Research and Blood Cancer
Coalition. This publication is designed to
provide information in regard to the subject
matter covered, and is distributed as a public
service by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society,
with the understanding that LLS is not engaged
in rendering medical or other professional
services.
The Leukemia &
Lymphoma Society is headquartered in White
Plains, NY, with 68 chapters in the United
States and Canada. Its mission: Cure leukemia,
lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and
improve the quality of life of patients and
their families. Since its founding in 1949, LLS
has invested more than $550 million in research
specifically targeting blood cancers.
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