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2012 Leukemia Cup Regatta in San Diego!
Welcome to 2012! This year there are even more ways to save lives while participating in your favorite sport! In addition to the second annual One Design Leukemia Cup Regatta at Mission Bay Yacht Club (August 18-19), we will be racing PHRF boats on the bay with the first San Diego Leukemia Cup Regatta hosted by Cortez Racing Association (CRA) (June 9). Both races offer the opportunity to earn great Leukemia Cup Regatta gear and those who raise over $8500 will be sent for a weekend of sailing with Gary Jobson in New Orleans!
In addition to the racing, we are setting up a program of events to help motivate our participants including the following:
- January 26-29, Sunroad Boat Show - Stop by booth 102 to learn more about the Regatta, sign up to sail, and be entered in our drawings!
- February 23 6-8pm, West Marine Point Loma - Heading offshore in one of the distance races this spring? We will be offering a weather seminar hosted by our national sponsors West Marine.
- May 3 6-8, Location awaiting confirmation - Competing effectively means knowing the rules. We will be offering a racing rules seminar to help our participants raise their game while they raise funds to cure cancer.
If you are interested in signing up to sail with us or participate in any of the programs we have this year, please email Peter Howson at peter.howson@lls.org
The Leukemia Lymphoma Society has made over $750 million in research grants since its founding. As a result of these efforts, 19 of the 39 drugs approved by the FDA over the last decade started out as LLS funded research projects. Of those 19 drugs, 5 have gone on to be approved for the treatment of other cancers including Gleevec which has been described as the "magic bullet" of cancer drugs.
2011 also saw completion of the first successful phase 1 clinical trial of a gene therapy treatment, a research project funded by the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Patients' own cells were "reporgrammed" to fight cancer cells as though they were viruses or bacteria. Patients reported that they experienced the worst flu of their life for about a week. The subjects have been cancer free for over a year. This treatment has tremendous potential not only for blood cancers, but for a wide spectrum of diseases.
LLS also provides patient support ranging from grants of financial assistance for cancer patients who are having trouble affording their treatments, to connecting new patients with survivors to help them through their treatment.
