‘Better Than Ever’ looking for new ‘Sole-Mates’

By Mike Touzeau, Special to the Green Valley News

Published: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 4:14 PM MST

You probably know someone who has battled cancer — perhaps even someone who lost.

The disease affects virtually everyone, directly or indirectly, which is why “Better Than Ever” (BTE) begins its 10 year at the forefront of a local campaign that has attracted hundreds of participants while raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Arizona Cancer Center.

It’s likely most people in the Green Valley/Sahuarita area have already heard about the BTE “Sole-Mates,” a group that continues to promote fitness as prevention for cancer, but may not be aware they too can join them in the fight.

Leaders Suzie Cherry, Barbara Powell, Sandy Bird and Kathy Wong are once again inviting anyone who wants a chance to join their army of “battling BTE’s” to enjoy their kickoff orientation Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 5:30 p.m. at Arizona Family Restaurant in Green Valley.

Training sessions in a “welcoming, non-competitive atmosphere” begin a week later, so it’s an opportunity for those who want to “have fun, be fit, and fight cancer,” as their brochures state, while at the same time get a chance to meet some courageous and dedicated supporters of today’s cutting edge treatments and tomorrow’s cures.

Virtually every “Sole-Mate” has lost someone to cancer, and that reality was driven home with even more agonizing certainty when one of their most active members succumbed to leiomyosarcoma in March.

“She fought a long, hard battle,” said Wong of her good friend Chris Portmann, who was only 58. “She was the epitome of living with her cancer, and living life to the fullest.”

Portmann finished the 2007 Tucson half-marathon, one of BTE’s major fund-raising events, while struggling with the disease — no small feat.

“Unfortunately, she was one of those in a million who get this type of cancer,” Bird said, “and she was one-in-a-million as a person.”

Bird had never been in any kind of fitness or walking program before she joined the group last year about this time, but because of the support from her training leaders and friends, she was able to finish the half-marathon in 2008.

“I didn’t think I would ever make it,” she admits, but she recalls the times that people just like Portmann encouraged her to keep going when she wanted to turn back, which is why she wants to continue to participate to remember her friend.

“It was first in her honor,” Bird said, “and now it’s in her memory.”

BTE trains participants in a 90-day program to run or walk their choice of events and distances, which include the CATwalk 10k (6.2 miles) on Saturday, Nov. 14, the Tucson half-marathon of 13.1 miles on Sunday, Dec. 13 (a Catalina State Park event in April and a Cinco de Mayo event), or they can cycle in the El Tour de Tucson Saturday Nov. 21.

Biking was just added three years ago to the BTE program in Tucson.

“We’d really like a biking group to get started in Green Valley/Sahuarita with BTE,” Wong said.

BTE’s program is designed for walkers, runners, and cyclists of all ages, and they include group workouts, coaching, a lecture series on healthy living, social functions, and a weekly newsletter with tips and information.

All money raised goes directly to research grants for the Arizona Cancer Center.

BTE raised $100,000 in 2008-09, Wong said.

The training sessions start every Saturday from either the Desert Hills or Santa Rita Springs recreations centers, she said, adding that they all head out for breakfast afterward.

“It’s a great source of camaraderie for the women,” she declared, “and we’d like to have more men out there.”

Since August of 2000, BTE has raised more than $1,000,000 and 2,800 participants of all ages have crossed the finish line — like Alice Slater, 79, a breast and colon cancer survivor who still does most of the events.

“I’m so grateful that I’m able to do this at all, considering how my health has been,” Slater said.

If you would like to join in the fight, Wong said, just call her at 625-0159 or Sandy Bird at 399-1511, and you can get more information at www.arizonabte.org.

Mike Touzeau is a freelance writer for the Green Valley News.

Co-workers plan benefit for man who lost arm to cancer

By Christina Chapman - cchapman@morrisdailyherald.com

A local retailer’s employees are banding together to help a sick co-worker. They are hoping the community will join their efforts.

Ryan Lechtenberg is expected to return to work this week at a local big-box hardware store after recovering from surgery earlier this month to have his left arm amputated.

Lechtenberg has been battling a very rare form of cancer, called Leiomyosarcoma, for more than 3 years.

After undergoing at least five surgeries, continuous chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Lechtenberg finally had to have his arm amputated in hopes of preventing the cancer from spreading, said Dan Lupton, co-worker and one of the benefit organizers.

“Through past surgeries, they were able to save his arm, but the tumor kept growing,” Lupton said.
Lechtenberg has about six inches left of his arm, Lupton said. He is expected to be able to continue work, but will need assistance.

Because Lechtenberg’s insurance does not cover all of his treatment, his co-workers are trying to raise funds to help him and his family. Lechtenberg is 37 years old and married with two young children.

“He’s so young to have to be dealing with this,” Lupton said. “He’s a very private person, but so helpful to everyone else.”

Lechtenberg’s co-workers are holding a benefit for him at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Chapin’s Restaurant, 701 N. Liberty St., Morris. A donation of $20 a person is being asked in exchange for appetizers and a fun evening filled with live music, raffles and silent auction items.

“We’re so thankful for Scott and Dianne (Breslar, Chapin’s owners) for their generosity,” Lupton said. “We wouldn’t be able to throw this benefit without them.”

Leiomyosarcoma is a form of a rare and aggressive cancer called sarcoma. A sarcoma is a cancer of the connective or supportive tissues of the body, such as bone, cartilage, fat, muscle and blood vessels, according to lmsdr.org.

The cause of Leiomyosarcoma is unknown, but studies have indicated there are genetic and environmental risk factors associated with the cancer.

“Most oncologists only see one or two cases of this in their careers,” Lechtenberg co-worker Trish Vidito said.

Another co-worker working on the benefit is Lisa Buhle.

Vidito said Lechtenberg plans to get a prosthetic arm, but he is unsure how much of the cost his insurance will cover ,so funds raised could go toward that also.

“Cancer is so common now, but to have to have a limb removed . . . We know how overwhelming it is for him and want to help as much as we can,” Vidito said.

For more information on the benefit, call Dan Lupton at (815) 325-3070.

Racing toward cancer research

Organization that raises money for Penn cancer research gets ad space from NASCAR

Along sleek sides of a TRG Motorsports Chevrolet screams David Gilliland's usual slew of sponsors: the Ford Racing team, the Web site freecreditreport.com, candy bars Milky Way and Twix and Combos pretzel snacks.

But this past weekend, one slogan on the number 17 cobalt blue race car didn't read like gas station advertising.

In addition to his normal array, Gilliland also sported the phrase "Sarcoma, The Forgotten Cancer" in bright green lettering across his car during last Monday's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.

The National LeioMyoSarcoma Foundation - a group that has raised almost $1 million to finance research at both Penn and Stanford University - partnered with Gilliland's TRG Motorsports to raise awareness about leiomyosarcoma (LMS), a rare form of cancer.

The project began after North Carolina resident and NASCAR fan Amy Elliott fought the extremely rare, aggressive soft-tissue cancer and vowed to raise awareness upon her recovery.

Just last week, Elliot approached TRG Motorsports General Manager Mike Brown in hopes of fulfilling that mission. Brown, in turn, offered Elliot and the LMS foundation rights to a prime advertising spot that typically costs $50,000 to $100,000.

The new partnership, and the recognition and awareness it generated will, in turn, make research like the projects currently underway at Penn and Stanford possible.

Penn Pathology professor John Brooks currently relies on both monetary and physical donations (in the form of tissue samples) to study the role of LMS at Penn, while Pathology professor Matt van de Rijn runs a similar LMS lab at Stanford.

Beyond fundraising, the ultimate goal of the "Sarcoma" message is to grab the attention of legislators and the general public to ensure that the many forms of sarcoma are properly studied, said Brooks.

Since the very aggressive LMS affects only four individuals out of every 1 million, patients, and thus the tissue samples required for research, are extremely rare.

As a result, tissue banks such as the ones at Penn and Stanford often face difficulties raising enough samples to conduct adequate research.

Unlike more common cancers, Brooks says that those studying rare tumors don't have luxury of the "press and research dollars" to which other research groups have access.

Because of this lack of funding, "there has been little progress on our understanding of the molecular genetic mechanisms driving [LMS], nor on treating it."

However, with the help of the LMS foundation and 300 donated samples, van de Rijn and his Stanford lab team were able to perform the most extensive research done on the deadly disease so far.

While the Stanford team is still in the process of analyzing the results, Brooks and the LMS Repository Tissue Bank are working to store the samples and more recently donated tissues for future use.

Circumferential resection of the inferior vena cava for primary and recurrent malignant tumors - Abstract

27 August 2009

University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.

Circumferential vena caval resection is occasionally performed in patients with advanced malignancy. We explored the oncological effectiveness of inferior vena caval resection, as determined by margin status, cancer recurrence and survival. Also, we addressed the morbidity associated with inferior vena caval obstruction and resection, and determined indications for inferior vena caval reconstruction.

A total of 18 patients underwent attempted inferior vena caval resection from 1999 to 2008. Primary tumor type was renal cell carcinoma in 7 patients, metastatic testicular cancer in 5, leiomyosarcoma in 3, and adrenal cortical carcinoma, primary retroperitoneal germ cell tumor and upper tract transitional cell carcinoma in 1 each. Data reviewed included preoperative and postoperative sequelae of inferior vena caval obstruction, postoperative complications, pathological results, cancer recurrence, graft requirements and functional outcomes.

Mean followup in the entire patient cohort was 24 months. Inferior vena caval resection was completed in 15 of 18 patients, of whom 12 (80%) had negative surgical margins. Of the patients 50% presented with symptoms of venous hypertension, including lower extremity edema with or without venous thrombosis, or abdominal wall varicosity. After inferior vena caval resection symptoms resolved in half of them, likely due to the ongoing formation of collateral vessels. Five asymptomatic patients with incomplete inferior vena caval occlusion underwent reconstruction with inferior vena caval vascular grafts of polytetrafluoroethylene (4) or Dacron (1). The polytetrafluoroethylene grafts remained patent. A total of 12 patients underwent simultaneous nephrectomy and/or left renal vein ligation in the same setting with acceptable alterations in postoperative renal function and no need for permanent dialysis. Cancer recurred locally in 4 of 15 patients who underwent resection. Five of 15 patients in the resection group died of disease or were lost to followup compared to all 3 in whom resection was aborted or macroscopically incomplete (mean followup 19.2 vs 4.3 months).

Local cancer control and potentially increased cancer specific survival can be achieved with successful complete circumferential resection of the inferior vena cava as a component of multimodality care in select patients with locally advanced malignancy. Polytetrafluoroethylene is the preferred prosthetic material when inferior vena caval replacement is indicated. The most common postoperative complications are renal insufficiency and lower extremity edema, which are generally transient.

Written by:
Caso J, Seigne J, Back M, Spiess PE, Pow-Sang J, Sexton WJ. Are you the author?

Reference:
J Urol. 2009 Sep;182(3):887-93.
doi:10.1016/j.juro.2009.05.015

PubMed Abstract
PMID:19616230