ALBANY–Neil and Shari Piper with a committee have organized the annual Capital District Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk to benefit The Lustgarten Foundation on Sunday, Sept. 8, at the Elm Avenue Town Park in Delmar. The walk begins at 10:30 a.m. Registration starts at 8 a.m. The goal of this annual walk is to raise awareness, and to help fund Lustgarten Foundation supported research.
The Pipers organized the first Lustgarten Foundation Albany Capital District Walk for Pancreatic Cancer Research in 2004. Over a 20-year-period, Neil had lost his mother, sister, uncle and brother. “We knew Neil, and most likely our children, were genetically ‘wired’ for pancreatic cancer,” Shari explained. “We could either bury our heads in the sand or become proactive in the fight against pancreatic cancer. We chose to become involved with the Lustgarten Foundation, especially when we learned 100% of every dollar raised goes directly to pancreatic cancer research with a focus on early detection and a cure for this disease.”
Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer accounts for just 3% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States each year, yet it is the third-leading cause of cancer deaths and has a 5-year survival rate of only 13% —up from the 3% when the Foundation began its work!
Of particular interest to The Jewish World readers, pancreatic cancer is more common in Jews than in the general population, and Ashkenazic Jews have a greater risk than Sephardic Jews. About 1 in 40 Jews in the United States will get pancreatic cancer, compared to 1 in 67 in the overall U.S. population, according to a 2011 study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. A growing body of evidence suggests that increased pancreatic cancer risk for Ashkenazic Jews has a genetic basis; these cancers are caused by inherited mutations in specific cancer-associated genes, including the familial breast cancer genes BRCA2 and BRCA1. The risk of cancer to Jews who inherit a defective copy of BRCA2 or BRCA1 varies in different families. The reason for this variation in risk is thought to be dependent on “lifestyle factors” such as smoking, obesity, dietary influences, the inheritance of other cancer susceptibility genes and a certain element of chance.
Those interested in participating in the Albany Walk for Pancreatic Cancer Research, are asked to visit the webpage, hope.lustgarten.org/events/albany and sign up as an individual, join a team, or start a team. They may then, donate, fund-raise and attend the walk on Sept. 8.
Lustgarten Foundation
The Pipers reming readers that The Lustgarten Foundation is the largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research and 100% of all donations fuel the research to advance understanding of the complex, devastating and historically underfunded cancer. The Foundation has invested more than $282.4M in high-risk, high-reward research to accelerate and expand life-saving treatment options since 1998. Eight active research grants across 33 institutions are accelerating discoveries in understanding, detecting, and treating pancreatic cancer. This past year Lustgarten awarded 17 new grants totaling up to $23 million to researchers at 13 institutions.
Since 2004, the annual Lustgarten Foundation’s Albany Capital District Walk for Pancreatic Cancer Research has raised more than $1.7 million to support pancreatic cancer research, providing the potential for more tomorrows for all patients. The 2024 Walk is sponsored by St. Peter’s Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery, Albany Med Pancreas Surgery, Davin Healthcare Workforce Solutions, Albany Gastroenterology Consultants, and other local businesses. WNYT NewsChannel 13 is television media sponsor.
Information may be obtained from Susan Jacobson at Lustgarten, director, external and community relations 914-589-7553, [email protected] or from the Walk founders Shari and Neil Piper, 518-475 -1200, [email protected].
