I'm proud to ride a third year in support of the PMC as Living Proof of cancer survivorship.

My history: I was diagnosed in January 2018 with Stage 2 Ovarian Cancer. I underwent surgery and chemotherapy transfusions for 5 months. However, as is typical of OC, I had a reoccurrence at the start of covid pandemic in Feb 2020. I underwent six more months of chemotherapy. I was placed on, Olaparib, taken orally, in October 2020. It was effective for me for 3.5 years. The disease returned in February 2024. By August 2024, I was receiving very slow infusions of chemotherapy because I had developed allergic reactions to two of the frontline chemos. One of the reactions was severe and even my usually unflappable doctor, was nervous. Since February 2025, I have been receiving chemotherapy treatment three out of four weeks at Dana Farber. Side effects are numerous, but I have learned to manage them. I take life one CT or PET scan to the next and have a deeper appreciation of family, friends and the time I have now while I'm feeling reasonably well. 

I am excited to ride again on the very successful Team Ovarian Cancer. With your help, I am happy that I am able to give back to Dana Farber for all the support I have received from the medical team, infusion nurses, scheduling staff, medical technicians, my social worker, and volunteers. I can't say enough about how supportive and cheerful all the staff are at DFCI. I'm there a lot and it helps to see so many friendly faces. The on-going research at DFCI is ground breaking, new treatments are in development all the time, and I hope that I, or at least future patients, will continue to benefit.

This is the fourth year Team Ovarian Cancer is riding under the leadership of Nancy Cantor. Our goal in 2025 is to raise $300K. We have raised almost $1 million since our inception. Nancy started TOC to support two of her friends with the disease. Sadly both have passed on. One of those friends was Mara who you can meet at this link: Team Ovarian Cancer-Why we ride

100% of rider-raised revenue went directly to support the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's tireless commitment to finding a cure. Our teams funds will go directly to helping Dr. Matulonis in her research on Natural Killer Cells. The team was authorized to begin a clinical trial in the fall of 2024. Here are her words on what the funding supports:

Our GYN group is exploring the potential of a promising avenue of immunotherapy called cytokine induced memory-like (CIML) natural killer (NK) cell therapy for use against recurrent ovarian cancer. NK cells are often described as the “shock troops” of the immune system, the first wave of defenders against infection and disease. They are called natural killers because they do not require any special preparation or training to go on the attack. Like a well-organized strike force, they deploy quickly, do their job, and disperse. NK cells were thought to lack the type of cellular memory found in their longer-lived immune system counterparts, such as T NK cells do not readily proliferate and have a fleeting lifespan of only a few days, leaving them largely unable to eliminate infected or diseased cells. The type of NK cells used are CIML (cytokine-induced memory-like) NK cells, they are stimulated by specific proteins known as cytokines that facilitate communication between cells of the immune system, which enhances their ability to recognize and eliminate cancer. CIML NK cells also show increased proliferation and longevity compared to typical NK cells. A novel approach developed at Dana-Farber combines the CIML NK cells, which have been preactivated with cytokines, with an IL-15 super-agonist, a compound that enhances the durability and effectiveness of the already amplified immune response. This regimen has shown promise in phase I trials for blood cancers including acute myeloid leukemia, and in one trial led to complete remission in seven out of 13 patients with difficult-to- treat relapsed/refractory disease. Dana-Farber is the only institution in the world currently evaluating CIML NK cell therapy in solid tumors.

The Division of Gynecologic Oncology has launched launch a clinical trial testing CIML NK cell therapy in combination with an IL-15 super-agonist and an immune checkpoint inhibitor for recurrent high- grade ovarian cancer. Designed as a phase I study, it will be the first-in-human trial of this immunotherapy combination for this disease subtype. We are looking forward to testing these supercharged NK cells to treat recurrent ovarian cancer.

Thank you so much for your donation.

Sincerely,

Barbara