Dear Cancer Research Supporter:

Through out the year, each and every year, the world comes together to recognize and fight cancer!

This is a chance to raise worldly awareness; encourage cancer cure education; and promote among our community the research for a cure to the deadly disease called Mesothelioma Cancer.

Hi! I’m Dr. Parkash Gill, professor of Medicine and Pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC; head of the tumor and vascular biology laboratory at the University of Southern California; the Leader of the Translational and Clinical Sciences Program at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Ezalow Family Chair in Cancer Therapeutics.

My focus, and that of the research team with me, is on the future of mesothelioma cancer care — and I’m fortunate enough to benefit from funds provided by the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America. Their funds help me, and the young scientists working with me, to explore promising new approaches and technologies to treat mesothelioma cancer.

My work is in the emerging field called: Targeted Cancer Therapy (TCT). Targeted therapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs, however, it is different from traditional chemotherapy. The drugs known as targeted therapy help stop cancer from growing and spreading. They work by targeting specific genes or proteins. These genes and proteins are found in cancer cells or in cells related to cancer growth, like blood vessel cells.

My hope is that Trials for TCT research will be a standard part of the options offered on every mesothelioma cancer patient’s treatment plan. Certified clinicians will use TCT models to plan the best care, and select the most effective drug treatment for each person’s individual disease, translating to fewer side-effects upon the patient; the patient spends less time in treatment; and more patients have better results.

My research team and I are looking forward to where our studies take us, thanks to the extraordinary funding and support from Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America. If you would like to discover more about Targeted Cancer Therapy and the hope it holds for the future of mesothelioma cancer care, please check out our World Cancer Day page at www.MesoRFA.org and use the form to contact us!

Best regards,

Dr. Parkash Gill, Oncologist

DISTRICT COUNCIL 16 GIVES $200,000 FOR CANCER RESEARCH

Money Goes to Effective,
Ongoing Cancer Research and Treatment

By Robert Buscemi

The United Association Southern California Pipe Trades Council 16 presented the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America with a check for $200,000 at the Council’s annual holiday lunch.

The money, all raised in 2014, will go toward a cure for mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. District Council 16 Director of Organizing John Ferruccio emceed the event December 12 at the Dodger Stadium Club. He held off announcing the impressive dollar figure until after the speeches, when a drum roll from the house band built the excitement.

“Every year, as you know, one of our main fundraisers is to find a cure for this unfortunate disease,” Ferruccio told more than 150 attendees. “Mostly, mesothelioma is affecting our grandfathers, fathers and fathers-in-law. It’s gotten a lot better over the years.”

Ferruccio said the Council hosts an annual golf tournament and skeet-shooting events. In addition, the State Building and Construction Trade Council of California raises money through the annual Roger Hamilton golf invitational.

The foundation, known as MESORFA, was founded in 2001 by attorney Jerry Neil Paul, his wife Elizabeth Ann Paul and retired California Pipe Trades Representative and past Vice President of the State Building and Construction Trade Council, Jim Kellogg.

In thanking District Council 16, MESORFA Executive Director Elizabeth Paul explained that all funding goes toward research rather than administration.

“All of this money goes directly to fund a lab at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center here in Los Angeles. We use 100 percent of every dollar donated toward research, for clinical trials and to fund the lab. Nothing goes for the foundation – those costs are privately underwritten.”

Cancer Research Costs Millions

Paul said such research is never cheap, and other cancers get more attention and funding than mesothelioma, especially in a tight economy. Indeed, she said, MESORFA operates on a shoestring budget. “I know people don’t understand that, but to bring a treatment to the public costs tens of millions of dollars.”

As such, Paul said District Council 16’s annual contribution is crucial.

“Everybody was extremely generous. Families took care of families. My husband Jerry and I are big on family. Your leaders at District Council 16 view your members as family. Because they have gone out of their way to make sure that there are treatments and cures for this horrible disease.”

The disease hits especially hard at workers who have been exposed to asbestos, as many Pipe Trades and other Building Trades were before protections were put in place against the toxic substance. Even now, workers confront the hazard at some job sites.

Paul then introduced Dr. Parkash Gill, who reported that he has made huge strides at his lab through the development of Veglin, a drug that treats the disease.

“I’m honored to be part of it,” Gill said. “It’s a worthy cause. I’m a cancer research doctor, so finding a treatment for patients really is a rewarding experience. When somebody is ill and they get better and they go home and never see you again, it’s wonderful.”

Gill said that patients are already seeing positive results at treatment advances. He said certain efforts have been completely successful.

“This medicine, we have given to a 78-year-old patient. Two or three years out now, there’s no cancer left and no side effects.”