Funds will advance the search for new treatment options and improve patient care
SEATTLE — Sept. 26, 2014 — More than 3,000 walkers filled Seattle Center’s Next 50 Plaza on Sept. 20 for the 7th Annual Seattle Brain Cancer Walk. The walk raised more than $530,000, with 100 percent of the funds supporting research at the Ben & Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute (Ivy Center).
“The Seattle Brain Cancer Walk is an opportunity to celebrate the patients and families who are all affected by this devastating disease,” said Charles Cobbs, M.D., medical director of the Ivy Center. “The funds raised will make a direct impact on our research at the Ivy Center, and will help us push toward breakthroughs to better treat, and hopefully cure this disease.”
According to the American Brain Tumor Association, brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Americans under the age of 20; the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men ages 20-39; and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women ages 20-39.
Prior to the opening of the Ivy Center in 2008, clinical trials for patients with brain tumors were extremely limited in the Pacific Northwest. To date, the Ivy Center has provided access to 15 community-based clinical trials of experimental new therapies for patients diagnosed with brain cancer.
Funding from previous walks has supported the Ivy Glioblastoma project to map gene activity in brain tumors. The Ivy Center, in collaboration with the Allen Institute for Brain Science, is scheduled to release a database of the project’s findings in early 2015. The Ivy Center is also working on research for a personalized medical treatment for individuals with malignant brain tumors, which will move into a clinical trial stage in the next year. Finally, the walk has helped fund research into an antiviral drug that could target brain tumor growth; this project is on track for clinical trial next year.
Held every year since 2008, the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk has raised more than $3 million to fund research. For every dollar raised at the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk, an additional $9 is secured from other sources, making the walk the primary driver of brain cancer research in the region.
###
About the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk
Founded by a group of committed volunteers and families, the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk attracts more than 3,000 participants annually, all of the proceeds go directly to patient care, advocacy and research. The Seattle Brain Cancer Walk is a day dedicated to providing hope and creating community for those in the Pacific Northwest who face the deadliest form of cancer—brain cancer. For more information, visit www.braincancerwalk.org.
About The Ben & Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment
Opened in 2008, The Ben & Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment gives patients with brain tumors and their families access to a unique multidisciplinary team of skilled neurosurgeons, oncologists, radiologists and a specialized nursing staff who deliver coordinated care and innovative treatments for both benign and malignant brain tumors. The Ivy Center’s unique design places its world-class research facility directly adjacent to the outpatient clinic, providing patients with immediate access to promising new therapies. As part of the Swedish Neuroscience Institute located in Swedish Medical Center Cherry Hill Campus, the Ivy Center is the first brain tumor-specific, community-based facility of its kind in the Pacific Northwest and is providing new hope for patients with all stages of brain tumors, including brain cancer. The Ivy Center was created through a grant from The Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation, based in Scottsdale, Ariz. (http://www.ivyfoundation.org/).
