I am thrilled to be riding again for Team Perry in the 2019 Pan Mass Challenge. It is an exciting time in the fight against cancer. We have seen the emergence of immune-based therapies in targeting melanoma, lung cancer, and other cancers. These therapies turn the immune system on in the hope that the immune system, designed to protect our bodies from infection and other invaders, turn against the cancer. Unfortunately, for many GI cancers, these therapies are only providing dramatic benefit in a small minority of patients. In other GI cancers, such as pancreatic cancer, we have not been able to harness the power of the immune system at all. We are working tirelessly in labs to figure out the roadblocks to immune therapy, so that we can design the next generation of immune therapies. In addition, we have continued to make strides with chemotherapies and targeted therapies to help our patients live longer than ever before. While a minority, I have patients surviving 3- 4- and 5-years from diagnosis with metastatic pancreatic cancer. While these patients remain fewer in number than we would like, these survival times were unheard of just a handful of years ago.

One of the highlights of my year is participating in the PMC for Team Perry. Every dollar of the nearly $500,000 that our team raises goes to support the fight agains GI Cancers (colon, pancreas, stomach, esophagus, liver, gallbladder) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Together GI cancers are the number one cause of cancer death in the US. This needs to change with better screening, better detection, and better treatments.

I see the impact of this fundraising every day - in trials and new drugs borne out of our research, and in the patients who's lives have been forever been impacted by our discoveries.

I am late to the game in starting my fundraising this year, but hope that I can count on your support in my ride and in our fight against these terrible cancers.