Score for a Cure results are in

Score for a Cure

We are pleased to announce that the Score for a Cure program has generated approximately $45000 towards our cause. A very special thank you to Cascade for their generous donation of the limited edition HEADstrong Pro7 helmet and to Brine for their charitable donation of the Relentless head, the incentives for those participants that generated $750 or more.

We are so grateful to the participants who recognized our cause and joined our team in the fight against blood cancer. Thank you so much for all your hard work in raising awareness about blood cancer in your community and funds toward blood cancer research. We acknowledge the newest HEADstrong team members:

Kerry Oknefski – Kevin Benson – Michael Plisco- Justin Landis – Team Relentless – Michael Surowiec – Crosley Smith – Ben Vallimarescu – Logan Olmstead – Tyler Chin – Pat English – Xander Chase – Andrew Blume – John Muhlenberg – James Barrett – Jack Berney – Sage Devault – Nick Patullo – Marcus Mitchell – Nadar Sharif-Emami – Chaz Dotson – Michael Dellon – Danny Cirminiello – Caleb Zalaznick – Rick Ellison – Brittany Eveler – Doc’s Lacrosse – Travers Nisbet – Harrison Evans – Thomas & Kate Oswald – Oliver Sippel – Willie Platt – Gunner Garn – Thomas Schoen – Charlotte Sippel – Max Baren – Nick Georgagi – Steven Schneider – Jayne Sippel – Adam Philipps – Teddy Finley – Nate Jones – Michael Shanahan – Jardo Motzny – Rome Innocenzi – Trevor Ecton – Zachary Spohler – Jake Marthens – Cody McClintock – Max Spohler – Yuta Murata – Daniel King – Andrew Puopolo – Jake Ricci – Lucas Candella – Will McElroy – Jake Schleppy – Tally Bruno – Henry Bram – Cole Spooner – Jack Sheridan – Jack Weinberger – Sam Tedori – Joe Pozniak – Alex Weinberger – Quinn Toohey – Chase York – Nicky Weinberger – Blake Warner – TJ Michielini – Adrien Aubrun – Jefferson Webster – Kyle Gehlein – Aren Gallagher – Max Vought – Spencer Norcross – Max Kantor – James Yanes – Matt Johnson – Jake Schneider – C. Warner – Sean Feeley – Ben Pruzan

We also acknowledge the efforts of the parents and coaches for supporting your children in this campaign. We hope that we can count on your continued support next year.

Thank you.

The funds generated from Score for a Cure program will go directly towards vaccine research.
See below for details:

From USA Today, May 31st 2009

Experimental vaccine delays relapse in some cancer patients
A custom-made treatment vaccine – made with proteins from a patient’s own tumor – can delay relapses in some lymphoma patients by 14 months, researchers announced Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando.

The vaccine doesn’t prevent cancer. Instead, it aims to treat cancer by harnessing the power of the immune system, says study author Stephen Schuster, associate professor of medicine and director of lymphoma translational research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. That’s a formidable task. The immune system normally recognizes foreign invaders, such as cold viruses. But cancer cells aren’t foreign. Because cancers arise from a patient’s own tissues, the body often doesn’t recognize them as dangerous. Doctors have been trying to create vaccines that teach the immune system to attack cancers since the 1980s. Mostly, they’ve failed. In the past year, however, a new generation of treatment vaccines – developed through better technology – has been having more success, Schuster says.

The new study focused on patients with a slow-growing cancer of the lymph nodes called follicular lymphoma. Although patients often live six to eight years, those with advanced disease usually die from it, says Barton Kamen, chief medical officer at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. That’s why it’s important to get patients into remission and keep them in remission as long as possible, Kamen says. About 16,000 Americans develop follicular lymphoma each year, according to the society. In the study, doctor included 117 patients who went into remission after standard chemotherapy, Schuster says.

Doctors collected unique proteins from patients’ tumors and coupled them with two other proteins that are designed to stir up the immune system. In that way, doctors hoped to direct the immune system’s wrath against only tumor cells, but spare healthy ones, Schuster says. Patients who got the vaccine and immune boosters relapsed after 44 months, Schuster says. Those randomly assigned to the comparison group, who received general immune boosters without the vaccine, relapsed sooner – after 30 months. Doctors don’t yet know if the vaccine will save lives or help people live longer, Schuster says. Because the vaccine is designed to target only tumor cells – not healthy ones – patients developed few side effects, other than some pain and redness near the injection site, Schuster says.

Scientists need to perform larger studies to see how the vaccine works when combined with newer therapies, which weren’t available when Schuster’s study began, about 10 years ago, Kamen says. Back then, doctors treated lymphoma patients with traditional chemotherapy. Today, patients routinely get both chemo and a man-made antibody called Rituxan. “It’s a remarkable initial step,” Kamen says. “But it’s not a home run.”

About 16,000 Americans develop follicular lymphoma each year, according to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Thank you so much for helping us get a”HEAD” of cancer.