Novocure Announces GBMCommunity.com

I was recently contacted by Jacqueline Hong of the Chandler Chicco Agency who sent me a copy of a May 5^th press release saying “Novocure™ (NASDAQ: NVCR) announced today the availability of a new online resource to raise awareness of glioblastoma (GBM) and share stories of inspiration with the GBM community. An interactive exhibit featuring patients, caregivers, doctors, nurses and advocates will also be displayed within the coming months.”

You should know that I am conflicted about what I should do in these situations. Part of me understands that I am being contacted because, in addition to being the good guys that have developed this online resource, they are an oncology company who has products to sell. 

 

At the same time, it’s a nicely informative community-building website - www.gbmcommunity.com – which may help some poor brain tumor victim who is desperate for information and brain tumor community support.

With that being said, the press release also says “The website, GBMcommunity.com, features a mosaic of videos and images from the GBM community offering messages of hope and inspiration. The website also provides an overview of GBM and links to resources and advocacy groups.”

I was pleased to read that, “Novocure actively engaged members of the community to determine the resources they felt they needed most,” said Pritesh Shah, Senior Vice President, Americas. “This new website and exhibit were born from the GBM community and created with assets provided by the community.”

Let me know if you do or don't like reading about this kind of information in my blog.

John

Canadian (Brain) Cancer Survivor Network

If you are a brain tumor victim or caretaker or friend or family member, I would advise you to read blogs and books written by other victims, caretakers, friends and family members. 

When I did, I learned that

• I’m not the only one struggling with _______ (pick your tumor)
• Others know how devastating the emotional hurdles are, let alone the chemo and radiation
• Other people have had these problems and survived

You can find a great listing of brain cancer stories on the Canadian Cancer  Survivor Network: http://survivornet.ca/en/groups/blogs/brain_cancer_2

John

PS – Importantly, they all ain’t happy stories with Hollywood endings.

2016 Ependymoma Awareness Day

The CERN Foundation will commemorate Ependymoma Awareness Day with a mass butterfly release that will take place on May 2 during the 2016 Head to the Hill activities.  The butterfly release will be video-taped and posted on the internet so that supporters unable to attend Head to the Hill can participate and share in this moving occasion.

This is a fund-raiser. The $ from every butterfly bought aids the Cern Foundation - a wonderful nonprofit dedicated to eradicating this horrible disease.

Not interested? Before you click away, please watch this Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57B50Zu2qwA

Copyright: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/profile_mrthreeson'>mrthreeson / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

Researchers find potential new treatment target for deadly brain cancer

That’s the title of an abstract from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. The summary says “A key player in brain tumor formation has been found that may lead to new therapies for a deadly and incurable cancer. The study is the first to show that a protein called OSMR (Oncostatin M Receptor) is required for glioblastoma tumours to form. Glioblastoma is one of the most deadly cancers, resistant to radiation, chemotherapy and difficult to remove with surgery.”

I don’t have anything to add to the quotes from the lead author, which I’ve cut and pasted in the following:

"The fact that most patients with these brain tumours live only 16 months is just heartbreaking," said Dr. Arezu Jahani-Asl, the lead author who performed this research largely in Ottawa while she was a postdoctoral fellow co supervised by Dr. Michael Rudnicki at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa and by Dr. Azad Bonni from Harvard Medical School and Washington University School of Medicine. "Right now there is no effective treatment, and that's what drives me to study this disease." Dr. Jahani-Asl is now an assistant professor in the Department of Oncology at McGill University and a principal investigator at the Jewish General Hospital, with a laboratory dedicated to how glioblastoma develops.

Here’s a link to the article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160425141536.htm

PS - Please excuse the the morbid black and white graphic, but I'm feeling awfully sad about this GBM and the near term options for victims which, at this moment, still seem to be slim and none. 

Copyright: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/profile_lightwise'>lightwise / 123RF Stock Photo</a>