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View the YOUTUBE.com Sarcoma video from:
Sarcoma Foundation of America: A Cure in Our Time - Click Here
2007 Shelby Richter Fund Benefit
Thanks for All Who Came & Volunteered!
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We just recieved this very important message from Matthew Alsante, Executive Director of the SFA. Please do us a favor and DON'T just read this, PLEASE REACT!!!
Please view our sarcoma section of the website to read about the Loss of Funding. Click Here to read more.
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 On December 1st, 2004 Shelby (12 years young) was diagnosed with a large mass in her abdomen. She underwent emergency surgery the following morning at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for partial removal of the tumor. It took nearly 3 weeks for Pathologists to identify her tumor. Shelby was diagnosed with "Undifferentiated Sarcoma" on December 21st. Shelby passed away from her cancer on March 15th, 2005, only 3 months and 15 days after her original diagnosis.
Sarcoma is a rare cancer in adults (1% of all adult cancers), but rather prevalent in children (about 20% of all childhood cancers). It is made up of many"subtypes" because it can arise from a variety of tissue structures (nerves, muscles, joints, bone, blood vessels - these are collectively referred to as the body's"connective tissues"). Because these tissues are found everywhere on the body, sarcomas can arise anywhere. Thus within each type of the "popular" cancers, there is the occasional surprise for the pathologists (e.g., breast sarcoma, stomach sarcoma, lung sarcoma, ovarian sarcoma, etc.). But the most frequent location are the limbs, since this is where the majority of the body's connective tissue resides. It is often hidden deep in the body, so is often diagnosed when it has gotten too large to enable a hope of cure. Although a lot of the lumps and bumps we get are benign, people should be aware that they should have these looked at by a doctor at an early stage in case it is sarcoma. Also, sarcoma is sometimes curable by surgery (about 20% of the time), or by surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation (another 30%), but about half the time they are totally resistant to all of these approaches - thus the extreme need for new therapeutic approaches. At any one time, about 50,000 patients and their families are struggling with sarcoma. About 10,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and about 5,000 die each year from sarcoma.
Excerpted from the SFA's web site. Click here for more information.
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