I'm riding for a cause. I just registered to participate in Crush Challenge, hosted by the deLeuze Family Charitable Foundation and ZD Wines, which is an unparalleled event in the Napa Valley, bringing together people from all over the country to join us in supporting our beneficiaries: UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Teen Center at Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley.
UC Davis Medical Center located in Sacramento, CA is nationally ranked in 11 adult specialties and 5 pediatric specialties. One of those highly ranked specialties is Cancer therapy. The UC Davis Cancer Center is a nationally recognized cancer center and one of 41 NCI designated cancer centers. This put the UCD Cancer Center in good company with some of the best cancer centers in the world. The designation came after years of groundbreaking research and top-rated clinical care.
The journey to the Crush Challenge began in 2004 when Norman deLeuze entered my clinic with a deadly form of lymphoma called Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Norman was a highly intelligent, aeronautical engineer turned winemaker. He believed chemotherapy was poisonous and there had to be a less toxic approach to treating his cancer. He discovered a naturopathic remedy developed in Hungary (a fermented wheat germ product) that remarkably shrunk his lymphoma. This experience was transformative in my career and taught me to “think outside the box”. In 2007 Norman lost his battle with cancer but his wife Rosa Lee, the deLeuze family and ZD wines carried on Norman’s quest to find a non-toxic cure. Based on the difficulty on getting funding for alternative treatments, the deLeuze family and I established a collaborative relationship to develop this promising product and other non-toxic approaches to cancer. Since then ZD and the deLeuze family have raised over 1,000,000 $ to support this promising research. In 2010 the deLeuze family created the endowment for a Non-toxic cure for lymphoma.
· A short list of where this effort has taken us thus far
o Validated efficacy of fermented wheat germ extract in lymphoma
o Established that fermented wheat germ was non-toxic
o Developed a novel more potent and potentially less toxic form of fermented wheat germ called FWGP
o Established efficacy of FWGP in lymphoma without toxicity
o Established that FWGP is active in other cancers including lung, gastric and colon
o Characterized FWGP’s specific effects on the immune system
o Found that it improves the efficacy of standard anti-cancer drugs
o Began to identify the active components
o This year initiated a clinical trial in human patients with many types of cancer
o In 2016 a patent was awarded that would facilitate commercialization
o Allowed development of novel molecules that activate and redirect the immune system to the site of the malignancy-another patent pending
o Allowed development of novel microspheres that can carry payload directly to any target with little toxic effects
Most importantly this has translated into prominent publications, a patent, and external/national funding that exceeds 1 million dollars.
Why do we need your help?
An estimated 1,237,824 people in the US are either living with blood cancers.
Approximately every 9 minutes, someone in the US dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents approximately 160 people each day or more than six people every hour. Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are expected to cause the deaths of an estimated more than 60,000 people in the US in 2019.
Drug development costs are skyrocketing-forbes recently estimated that it costs ~ 350 million for a company to get one drug from the lab to patients.
Currently you have to have evidence that an agent is potentially effective before anyone will invest in it. Thus innovative ideas are difficult to develop as no one will invest in them without preliminary data.
A small investment into innovative ideas allow the validation of those concepts this then facilitates larger investments.
Research funding is very tight and almost non-existent for innovative ideas without preliminary data.
Well we cannot do this alone we need YOU as part of our team !!