A recently completed survey of U.S. oncologists reveals an oncology landscape that is growing increasingly bleak due to a shortage of cancer drugs and financial constraints that are having grave health consequences on the patients they treat.

The survey, conducted independently by National Analysts Worldwide without pharmaceutical company support or collaboration, produced an array of disturbing conclusions. The findings pose serious questions about our nation’s ability to advance the “War on Cancer,” despite promising strides in our understanding of basic cancer biology.

Ironically, the survey found that while there is excitement among U.S. oncologists about innovative therapies under development, nearly half report grave health consequences due to drug shortages. The survey also found that oncologists’ optimism about the potential for new treatments to improve survival and quality of life is offset by pessimism that these new treatments will be affordable for patients or society.

The Junior Purple Society at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale Arizona made this movie for our family. I wanted to share it with the world because it really shows what the huge impact Nitalia had and continues to have on the world. We cried our eyes out when they gave this to us on Jan 28th, The one year anniversary of Nitalia going to heaven. We miss her so much, but continue to push on to make her dream a reality. Nitalia loved everyone, even when it was not popular to do so. She always saw the person for who they are and who they could be. Her dream continues on in each and every one of the kids in this video. We are so proud of them, they are so driven to change the world! I know Nitalia is right there with them! There are kids and teachers from Chaparral, Cocopah, Sequoya, and Xavier schools in the video. We LOVE all of you that had a hand in making this happen! A Special thank you to Nina Kravetz who was the loving brains behind this video and Alexa Ehrenfreund for her great production work! I know Nitalia is LOVING this!!! They gave our family all of the index cards with their words on them…we will cherish them always.
We LOVE you all!
Go ahead and join them…spread the love!

*We LOVE YOU Junior Purple!!!!!

Researchers studying a rare, lethal childhood tumor of the brainstem discovered that nearly 80 percent of the tumors have mutations in genes not previously tied to cancer. Early evidence suggests the alterations play a unique role in other aggressive pediatric brain tumors as well.
The findings from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) offer important insight into a poorly understood tumor that kills more than 90 percent of patients within two years. The tumor, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), is found almost exclusively in children and accounts for 10 to 15 percent of pediatric tumors of the brain and central nervous system.
“We are hopeful that identifying these mutations will lead us to new selective therapeutic targets, which are particularly important since this tumor cannot be treated surgically and still lacks effective therapies,” said Suzanne Baker, Ph.D., co-leader of the St. Jude Neurobiology and Brain Tumor Program and a member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. She is a corresponding author of the study published in the January 29 online edition of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.

“Emma Lee (AKA Emma the Brave) has had spine cancer for most of her life. She is 6 years old, has had multiple surgeries, and is undergoing weekly chemotherapy. To help raise money for Emma’s physical therapy and treaments, Hillary Ryan organized a yoga event on January 21, 2012. Over $16000 was raised in a community wide effort.”
We got a chance to meet Emma and her family yesterday at the fundraising event. She is so beautiful and bright. I know Nitalia was right there with us! We presented Emma and her family with a $10,000 Physical Therapy grant. This will assure that Emma gets all the therapy she needs! Emma and her family were so happy to receive the grant; Now the funds raised at the fundraiser can go into the many bills that a family incurs while going through cancer treatments. We are blessed to be part of her journey. We need to give a huge THANK YOU to our partners on this grant, RISE EI and Therapy For Developmental Disabilities. Without them this would not have been possible.

This was an incredible year for Nitalia’s Blankets and The Purple Society. As many of you know, this was the first time that the blankets were delivered without Nitalia being right there to hand them out…well let me tell you, she showed herself at EVERY delivery!!! Purple was popping up EVERYWHERE during the deliveries! Purple balloons, kids dressed in Purple, Purple parking lots, and  so much more! We are so happy to know that Nitalia was there with us and all of the kids. This year was our best year EVER! We delivered WAY OVER 1000 blankets, booties, hats, scarves, socks, and pillows to oncology children all over the country! We can’t thank you enough for the volunteers that gave time, money, blankets, scarves and so much more for this years delivery. You have all given love, smiles and warmth to children that need it most. We have been blessed to have you all in our lives and our foundation!

OUR GOAL FOR 2012 IS 1500 PURPLE PACKAGES FOR CHILDREN ALL OVER THE US!!!! LETS GET STARTED TODAY CREATING, MAKING AND COLLECTING BLANKETS, HATS, BOOTIES, SCARVES, AND SOCKS!!!

You can send blankets to: The Purple Society 6104 E. Clinton St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85254.
REMEMBER: Blankets must be NEW. They can be hand made or store bought. Please only give NEW SOFT blankets. The children that are going through active cancer treatments have low immunine systems and sensitive skin.

All Our Love,

The Conti’s

 
Physicians at the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience (JHN), the region’s only dedicated hospital for neuroscience, are tackling a particularly aggressive brain cancer that even surgery, chemotherapy and radiation often fail to treat with a promising new immunotherapy to attack a patient’s tumor with their own cancer cells.
Starting as early as January, the first of 12 patients diagnosed with a malignant astrocytoma from a clinical trial led by David W. Andrews, M.D., Co-Director of the Brain Tumor Center of the Kimmel Cancer Center at JHN, will receive a “cancer Trojan horse” that could significantly shrink their tumor and possibly extend their life.
 
Considering patients with malignant astrocytomas rarely live past four months, a new treatment method is highly needed.
Here’s how the immunotherapy works. The patient’s cancer cells are removed during surgery and then treated with a type of therapy that turns off a growth factor receptor, which plays a critical role in cell survival. Without it, cancer cells die.
Those same cells are then placed in a diffusion chamber (to keep the cells from spreading back into the body), re-implanted back into the patient within a day and then retrieved up to two days later—this is what makes it stand out from other immunotherapies. During their time in the body, those reinserted, extracted tumor cells communicate a message to the other tumor cells to die—and tell the body’s immune system to help do it.