Golfers Score “Hole in One” for Cancer Research Projects

Mark your calendars – it’s time once again for golfers to hit the fairways and swing to raise money for cancer research projects.

The sixth annual Golfers Against Cancer tournament will “tee off” Monday, Nov. 25, and will take place at the Deerwood Golf Club and Kingwood Country Club courses in Kingwood.

Approaching the $1 million milestone, this spring Golfers Against Cancer awarded $975,000 in philanthropic grants from tournament proceeds to eight cancer research projects, including four initiatives at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The $225,000 M.D. Anderson gift will further research in leukemia and brain tumors as well as a treatment approach known as anti-angiogenesis. This donation marks the fourth consecutive year the nonprofit golf group has supported M.D. Anderson projects.

Golfers Against Cancer launched its first charity tournament five years ago to honor members of the golf world whose lives had been touched by cancer. Since the event began, almost $2.6 million has been contributed to cancer research, including a total of $550,000 to M.D. Anderson programs.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to help fund these vital efforts,” said Pat Weston, co-chairman of Golfers Against Cancer. “We’ve seen exciting progress made toward eliminating this dreaded disease, but we have a long way to go. This organization is committed to doing all it can to help speed that process.”

M.D. Anderson research slated to receive the golfers’ funding infusion includes:

• Final development of a vaccine for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which converts a protein produced by the leukemia genes into a new DNA agent that, when injected into the muscle, has shown promise in activating the immune system to create new immune cells and antibodies to kill the disease.

• Advanced study of the anti-angiogenic drug, Endostatin, which has already proven in early clinical trials to be safe and reduce blood flow to tumors, is being evaluated in tandem with chemotherapy agents to determine if the combination accelerates disruption of blood to the tumor. Golfers Against Cancer enters its third consecutive year of funding this anti-angiogenesis work.

• Continuing animal studies for the use of an adenovirus to treat brain cancer, which already has exhibited effectiveness as a vector to carry a healthy gene directly to glioma tumor cells. The adenovirus has been genetically engineered to retain the ability to fatally replicate in tumor cells while sparing healthy cells, as well as sustain itself in proportion to the number of cancer cells present.

• Further fine-tuning of gene therapy in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme to more directly reach the invading tumor cells of this most deadly form of brain cancer and kill them without injuring neighboring normal nerve cells. While these approaches are the goals for gene therapy research in any cancer, because brain tumor cells grow by intermingling with nerve cells, effective gene therapy is especially promising in eliminating brain cancers.

“Three things are needed for research to succeed,” said Frederick Lang Jr., M.D., associate professor of neurosurgery at M.D. Anderson, who is participating in both brain cancer research areas funded by the golfers. “You need a plausible idea, inspired personnel and funding, which is quite often the greatest obstacle. We are grateful to Golfers Against Cancer for helping to complete the circle and enable so much promising work to come to fruition.”

Other Golfers Against Cancer funding recipients are the Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Methodist Hospital’s Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, and CaPCURE - a nonprofit charity dedicated to finding a prostate cancer cure.

Golfers Against Cancer was established in the summer of 1997 by members of Deerwood Golf Club. The event has grown to hit the fairways at five Kingwood courses and involve more than 500 participants and volunteers.

For more information on this year’s event, call (281) 367-7999, or visit www.golfersagainstcancer.org.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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