Local nonprofit donates $47,000 toward pancreatic cancer research

A local nonprofit continues to press the fight against pancreatic cancer.

Fund A Cure For Pancreatic Cancer, chaired by Newtown Township Supervisor Rob Ciervo, recently donated $47,000 to the Pancreatic Cancer Surgical Research Fund at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

This year's donation was raised through the annual Run Over Cancer 5K in July, and by a group from Fund A Cure that participated in the Philadelphia International Dragon Boat Festival last month. It is $17,000 more than last year's donation, said Ciervo, who added that since 2009 the group has donated $102,000 to the pancreatic cancer research team at Jefferson.

"This money allows us to pursue very promising projects about how pancreatic cancer cells become resistant to commonly used chemotherapies," said Dr. Jonathan Brody, director of surgical research at Jefferson.

"Ultimately, this will allow us to understand why certain pancreatic cancer cells survive under such harsh conditions and ultimately become lethal," he continued. "Since federal funding is at an all-time low for cancer research, it is these resources that allow us to perform these critical experiments. Additionally, these funds will help support the next generation of PhD students that will study this complex disease by helping to fund their training."

Ciervo is grateful to people in the group who were instrumental in raising the $47,000. His father, Louis Ciervo, died of pancreatic cancer in 2008.

"I have to take a moment to thank Marissa Gibson and her family," he said. "She was our top fundraiser for the Run Over Cancer 5K with $5,900. I also have to thank Christine Edmonds and her friends and family who helped raise well over $12,000 to sponsor the Dragon Boat team. While pancreatic cancer continues to take our loved ones, we can fight back by giving researchers such as Dr. Brody and Dr. (Charles) Yeo at Jefferson the tools they need to stop this deadly disease.

"While we are grateful for the wonderful work at Jefferson, we also hope that our elected leaders in Washington D.C., realize that they must properly fund pancreatic cancer research in order for cures to be found," Ciervo continued. "It is unconscionable to many of us that the National Cancer Institute, which has a budget of nearly $5 billion, only allocates 2 percent of its funding toward pancreatic cancer research when pancreatic cancer, with only a 1 percent long-term survival rate, is the deadliest cancer known to man."

More information: email robert@fundacure.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49859125/ns/local_news-delaware_valley_pa_nj/

Taylor Swift Red Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 2 celiac disease san francisco giants Medal of Honor Warfighter Richard Mourdock d