HEALTH
A Lustgarten Walk will take place in Hudson River Park on Sun., March 31. The walks raise awareness about pancreatic cancer and funding
for treatment and research for a cure.
Northwell ‘steps up’ versus pancreatic cancer
BY NORTHWELL HEALTH
The Northwell Health Cancer Institute announced
last week that it will serve as the
presenting sponsor for the fi ve Lustgarten
Pancreatic Cancer Research Walks in the New York
metropolitan area. Northwell will team with the
Lustgarten Foundation in supporting community
walks to increase awareness of the disease and promote
early detection, treatment advances and innovative
research.
The shared goal is to cure pancreatic cancer,
which has a fi ve-year survival rate of only 9 percent.
More than 56,000 people will be diagnosed with
the disease this year nationally and almost 46,000
will people will die from it.
The Lustgarten Walks offer patients, survivors
and loved ones a day of hope, where everyone in the
community can come together in the shared goal
of raising awareness and funding for this incredibly
challenging disease. The family-friendly walks,
which include food, raffl es and prizes from vendors,
offer a sense of community to those who are battling
this disease and a support system for survivors.
“With such low survival rates, there’s a tremendous
need to collaborate with experts in this oncology
specialty,” said Dr. Richard Barakat, physician
in-chief and director of the Northwell Health
Cancer Institute and senior vice president of the
health system’s Cancer Service Line. “We can only
move toward a cure for pancreatic cancer through
increased public awareness and collaboration on innovate
research aimed at advancing more clinical
trials for patients.”
Northwell will sponsor the following walks:
March 31, New York City: Pier 62 to Pier 63 in
Hudson River Park. Meet at the carousel between
W. 22nd and W. 23rd Sts. Participants will walk a
1.5-mile or 3-mile route to Pier 84, at W. 44th St.,
and back. The route is wheelchair and stroller accessible.
Dogs are permitted in the park.
April 28, Westchester: Rye Playland Park
July 21, Brooklyn: Marine Park at Carmine Carro
Community Center
Sept. 8, Staten Island: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Boardwalk
October 6, Long Island: Jones Beach State Park
“We are delighted to be partnering with Northwell
Health for our walks in the New York metropolitan
area,” said Kerri Kaplan, president and
C.E.O. of the Lustgarten Foundation. “Not only do
our walks raise critical funds, but they provide an
opportunity for the pancreatic cancer community to
come together for a day of hope and inspiration.”
David Tuveson, M.D., P.h.D., Lustgarten’s chief
scientist and the director of the Cancer Center
and the Lustgarten Foundation Laboratory at Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), and his team
are collaborating with Northwell physicians to create
pancreatic cancer organoid models from patient
tumors. Organoids, which were developed by the
Lustgarten Foundation Laboratory at CSHL, are
three-dimensional cell-culture systems that reproduce
a patient’s tumor to test it repeatedly with different
drugs.
Northwell and CSHL have successfully completed
their fi rst organoid research study. The next step
will be to enroll patients in a nationwide organoid
clinical trial in which Northwell will participate and
that will be funded by the Lustgarten Foundation.
The Northwell Health Cancer Institute is in the
early stages of developing a comprehensive pancreatic
cancer center. The program’s major components
will include surgical, radiation and medical
oncology, interventional gastroenterology, pathology,
radiology, endocrinology, palliative oncology,
cancer genetics, nutritional counseling, social work
and other services.
To register for any of the walks, visit: https://
www.lustgarten.org/walk-for-research/ or call 866-
789-1000.
To learn more about the Lustgarten walk program,
view this video: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=kgkXT6mJPTI
Northwell Health is New York State’s largest
healthcare provider and private employer, with 23
hospitals, nearly 700 outpatient facilities and more
than 13,600 affi liated physicians.
The Lustgarten Foundation is America’s largest
private funder of pancreatic cancer research. Based
in Woodbury, NY, the foundation supports research
to fi nd a cure for pancreatic cancer, facilitates dialogue
within the medical and scientifi c community,
and educates the public about the disease through
awareness campaigns and fundraising events.
Since its inception, the Lustgarten Foundation
has directed $165 million to research and assembled
the best scientifi c minds with the hope that
one day, a cure can be found. Of every donation,
100 hundred percent goes directly to pancreatic
cancer research. For more information, visit www.
lustgarten.org.
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