Last fall we introduced Tickets for the Cure to you , our program that assists cancer patients with travel to and from the neighbor islands when participating on a clinical treatment trial . Fast-forward a year , and our everyday life has changed incredibly due to COVID-19 . What HASN ’ T changed is the need for neighbor island clinical trial patients to be offered cutting edge clinical trials and to continue their study treatments , both for their health and for the important research that will benefit us all .
Tim Kelleher , one of the Research Nurses at The Queen ’ s Medical Center , oversees clinical trial treatments there . He recently spoke to the Friends about his experience with neighbor island clinical trial patients and the crucial need for Tickets for the Cure . Here are some interesting insights that he shared :
• The Hawaii Cancer Consortium / Network currently does not have any sites on the neighbor islands for clinical trials , so these
patients must come to O ‘ ahu for their trial treatments . UH Cancer Center coordinates trials that are offered at the various hospitals and clinics where the trial treatments are administered .
• An important consideration in the field of cancer treatment is “ financial toxicity ,” which is the financial burden that treatment
and travel has on patients . Tickets for the Cure helps alleviate that financial burden , permitting neighbor island patients to participate in trials that may improve the quality of their lives as well as help new treatments be approved in the future .
• To participate in a trial , a patient may have to fly to O ‘ ahu as much as once a week for months . Once on maintenance ,
they may need to return regularly throughout the year . Patient treatments may involve years of flying back and forth to O ‘ ahu .
• While some studies show that the drugs being tested turn out to have no benefit , every patient in the study receives , at minimum ,
the current standard of care , which in some cases may not be available on their home island . Research Nurses like Tim and UH Cancer Center ’ s Research Associates ensure patients receive treatments on time . This can make a huge difference in treatment and the overall quality of care .
• Enrollment in clinical trials is only around three percent for adults . It is higher for children , more than 75 percent . This is why
progress in this field is achieved at a much more accelerated rate . Encouraging and supporting adults to participate in clinical trials is vital to finding better treatments and cures .
The Friends is presently the only source of support for this crucial program , so your donations are vital and so appreciated !
Left to right : Clinical trial participant Louis Dionese from Kihei , Maui with
Research Nurse Tim Kelleher .
Winners of the 2020 UH Cancer Center Science Fair Awards
Three high school students received the UH Cancer Center awards for their winning projects at this year ’ s virtual Hawai ‘ i State Science and Engineering Fair . These awards were made possible through the generous support of the Friends .
THE WINNERS WERE :
First place ($ 300 award ) - Mary Winnicki , a senior at Punahou School , for her project titled , “ Machine-Learning Driven Detection of Metastatic Cancer ( Year Two ). Her mother was the inspiration for this project when she was diagnosed with breast cancer . Winnicki ’ s project focused on developing an affordable computer-based function and web app to improve patients ’ chances of survival through early detection of metastasis ( spread of disease ).
Second place ($ 200 award ) - Annabelle Ink , a sophomore from Mililani High School for her project titled , “ Smoke Screen : The Effect of Social Media on Teenage Vaping .” She created a survey , distributed to over 1,000 participants , to determine if there was a correlation between social media usage and teenage vaping . Ink ’ s concern was “ preventing more students from vaping , which is important because it has many dangerous side effects .”
Third place ($ 100 award ) - Taylor Moniz , a junior at Kamehameha Schools , Kapālama Campus . Her project was titled ,” Ivermectin Induces Apoptosis , Cell Cycle Arrest , and Senescence in C4-2 Prostate Cancer Cells .” No further information was available on Moniz ’ s project .