Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative Supports Cancer Vaccine Study at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Developing a Vaccine for Sarcoma and Melanoma is a Primary Goal

“The goal of this vaccine trial is to demonstrate the safety of this treatment in patients with sarcoma,” says Dana-Farber’s John Goldberg, M.D, who will co-direct this study with David E. Fisher, M.D. He went on to say, “If it is successful, the next steps will be to test the vaccine in more patients with sarcoma, and to test the vaccine with other kinds of immunotherapies that will act in concert with the vaccine to cause the immune system to destroy the patient's cancer even more effectively than with the vaccine alone.”

Bruce and Beverly Shriver of Ossining, N.Y., lost their 37-year-old daughter Liddy, to Ewing’s Sarcoma in January 2004. While devastated, the couple and Liddy’s husband Tom Swartz decided to put their energies and financial support toward helping those facing the disease in the future.

As a result, the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative was formed to increase public awareness of sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that often affects young adults. It also undertakes activities to help improve the quality of life for people with sarcoma.

“The Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative is delighted to partner with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in this effort to bring hope and medical treatment to suffering sarcoma patients, as well as those with pediatric type renal cell carcinoma and Stage IV melanoma,” says Bruce Shriver. “Everyone with sarcoma deserves drug research to be aggressively pursued to improve their survival chances and allow them to reclaim their futures. It is our honor to contribute to this valuable research effort.”

The Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative has also supported sarcoma research at the University of Michigan, Stanford University, Baylor University, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. More information about the Initiative can be found on their Web site at www.liddyshriversarcomainitiative.org and through their Electronic Sarcoma Update Newsletter (ESUN) at http://tinyurl.com/3b6xv.